


Tomorrow I Will Wake Up In Your Bed

by Fernedakki



Category: Football RPF, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Alternate Reality, Drama, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, Family Drama, Fantasy, Fluff and Angst, Inspired by Real Events, M/M, Magical Realism, Mild Smut, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-08
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-02-12 08:13:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 53,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2102193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fernedakki/pseuds/Fernedakki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On Bastian’s 30th Birthday, Lukas wondered what it would be like if he's in Ibiza with his best friend tonight instead of Turkey. The next morning, he woke up to find Bastian in his bed, naked and sleeping, and he’s not in Turkey anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not an English native speaker, nor German for that matter. Feel free to point out any mistakes you find. This is an un-beta'ed work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Crazy4Hummels for helping me editing this chapter. ;)

_‘Hallo mein Hase, ich wünsche Dir alles Gute zum 30. Geburtstag...... @BSchweinsteiger #poldi #aha #HappyBirthdayBS’_

Lukas had been staring at his iPhone and re-reading the message over and over again for the past ten minutes. He held his breath before hitting send then tucked the phone back in his pocket. The tweet would surely soon cause frenzy among fans who called them 'Schweinski' because, well, 'Mein Hase', seriously. The Pole smirked, he might have gone a bit too far with this but it's the first word that came to his mind these days when he thought of Bastian, and though he'd re-read it a hundred times to see if he'd change his mind, he didn't. He'd never called Bastian by this term before though he used to joke that he looked like a little bunny somehow, his bunny. He doubted Bastian would be pissed off. He had never been pissed off at Lukas, no matter how aghast his behaviors or how unbecoming his jokes were. And he's very well aware that the word he chose had double meaning, it could be interpreted as a term of endearment when one called his romantic partner, like honey or baby. Lukas intended it just that, let the world wonder what the hell was going on between them.

The Turkish sun was high up in the sky and the sea reflected sunlight with its cobalt color. Lukas leaned in the deck chair, arms as a makeshift pillow, his shades were on but he wasn’t wearing anything other than broad shorts. Louis' voice could be heard from the other side of the small yacht but there's no other sound, the place was so quiet and peaceful. Lukas wondered how the world was reacting to his tweet now, he wondered where Bastian was and whether he’d read the tweet yet. He knew there would be at least a million fans who would tag Bastian in their tweets asking for his attention on his birthday. Thankfully, Lukas had taught him how to block all other notifications except for the people he allowed, and he remembered clearly that Bastian had set him as 'allowed'.

Lukas decided it’s not worth pondering over now and he should enjoy the sun and the sea which he'd come for. It'd take Bastian some time to reach his twitter, after all, he’s not like Lukas who couldn’t breathe without his smartphone. Lukas was about to doze off when his phone beeped, he recognized the Viber tone so he fished it out. The message showing on the screen didn't disappoint him at all, he smiled as opening it.

_‘'Mein Hase’, really?'_

Lukas typed back, _‘Do you like it?’_

 _‘Do I look like a bunny to you?’_ Bastian wrote back.

_‘Yes Absolutely. Little bunny.’_

_‘*angry face* The fans call me Tiger Schweinsteiger but you had the sense to call me Bunny. Oh, Poldi.’_

Lukas put a load of bunny emoticons in the answer box to irritate his friend further and hit the send button.

 _‘I'm not the fans,’_ he typed. Then to emphasize his point, he put another load of bunny emoticons.

_‘Stop it, Luki! And you're my biggest fan, don't you dare say otherwise.’_

_'Ok, but I didn't use any sense when I posted that, just so you know.'_

_‘I know you don’t have something like common sense in that brain of yours, I know it!’_

_'Schweini......You didn't really mean that, did you?'_

_'What did you use then if not your brain?'_

_'My heart.'_

There's silence on Bastian's side and Lukas felt the need to rescue the situation.

 _‘Where are you now anyway?’_ Lukas typed.

There's another long period of silence before Bastian answered, _‘Ibiza.’_

Oh, yes, of course, it had to be Ibiza. Where else could be more suitable to party till you drop on your 30th birthday than Ibiza? Everyone seemed to be on that fucking overrated island right now, starting from Bieber to Neymar, and now Bastian? Of course, it had to be Ibiza, Lukas recalled vaguely that Bastian met Sarah there seven years ago, the encounter which changed their lives forever. Shoving away the bitterness to the back of his head, he typed,

_‘Happy birthday again, Bunny. Have fun with Sarah in Ibiza then. Say hi to her for me.’_

_‘Sarah isn't here.’_

The message caused Lukas to raise his brow. _‘What do you mean Sarah isn't there? Where is she?’_

_‘Munich.’_

Munich? Lukas was confused now. Bastian was in Ibiza, but Sarah was in Munich on Bastian's birthday. How did that even make sense?

_‘Why?’_

_‘Umm, I don't wanna talk about it.’_

Lukas felt something churn in his gut. Had something happened between them? Bastian wasn't a telltale boyfriend and he rarely talked about his love life and Lukas knew this well but still felt the urge to type, _‘You know you can talk to me about anything, right?’_

_‘I know, Luki. I really appreciate it. Thanks’_

And that's it. That's how Lukas knew something was terribly wrong. Did they have a fight? It had to be a big fight if Sarah decided to leave Bastian alone on an important day like his birthday. What if they break up? Suddenly he felt ashamed of his thought. It's not the first time that he secretly wished Bastian would break up with her and he didn't know where this thought even came from. What would he do if Bastian actually breaks up with Sarah? Suddenly he wished he could be in Ibiza with Bastian right now. If he'd known that Sarah wouldn't be there, he'd never have left him alone. But he couldn't go now, he's with Louis and Monika and he simply couldn't jump off the yacht and catch the next flight to Ibiza. He looked at the sapphire sea under the sun and realized how bad he wished it to be Western Mediterranean.

It had been quite some time that he felt there's something missing in his life. He had a great career, a pretty wife and a beautiful son. He had family and friends, fortunes and fame, he'd just won the World Cup, for Christ's sake. How much can a man ask for in his life? All of these should be enough, but strangely, they weren't. Though they're still together, Monika and he didn't share the passion they used to have towards each other anymore and sometimes Lukas wondered if he ever had it in the first place. They barely make love anymore and they know they are still together because of Louis. It’s an unspoken truth they both knew deep in their hearts. That night when Lukas crawled into the queen-size bed in his cabin after a long day, he wondered what it would be like if he's in Ibiza with Bastian tonight instead of here.

***

Lights filtered through chasms of curtain of the single window of his cabin and danced over his closed eyelids. Squinting at the sunlight, he slowly opened his eyes as he took a minute to adjust to the brightness. ‘What time is it now?’ he thought as he started to shift off the bed but something caught him in the middle of his torso. The Pole immediately looked down and what he saw made his heart stop.

Bastian Schweinsteiger was there, on his stomach beside him in his bed, naked and sleeping, his left arm slinging around Lukas' waist comfortably and that's what holding him down.

"What the hell!" Lukas swore and Bastian jerked awake. He looked confused for a second then stared at the Pole like he was about to scold a five-year-old boy.

"What's up with you so early in the morning, Luki? Why did you need to be so loud? Louder than usual, I mean." And then he yawned. Though the sight of a naked Bastian yawning in his bed was very distracting, Lukas needed to focus.

"Basti, what the hell? What are you doing here?!"

Bastian froze, then slowly propped himself up on his elbow. "Okay, now, what's your game, Poldi?" His olive-colored eyes were narrowed curiously. He had the duvet covering his lower torso and though Lukas had seen Bastian naked for a thousand times in the locker room, he still felt self-conscious. And that's when he realized he's naked, too.

Lukas had the grace to blush, the most embarrassing part of it was that Bastian had already stolen the duvet for himself and Lukas had nothing left to cover his bits, AT ALL. He couldn't believe that he didn't know he's nude until now, he should have felt the breeze or something, but it's so fucking hot in here and there were more shocking events going on in the room so they're enough excuses for his ignorance. He slowly, subtly put his hand over his manhood, he didn't know why he had to feel embarrassed about it since again Bastian might have seen it a thousand times, but still. Bastian obviously noticed his awkwardness and grinned.

"Feeling self-conscious of the morning woods, aren't we?"

And that made Lukas' face heat up further. He wasn't really accustomed to this version of Bastian, talking cheekily about sex and all, but then again was there anything normal since he woke up?

"Where's Louis? And Monika?"

The question caught the Bavarian off guard and he narrowed his eyes at Lukas further suspiciously. "Louis is with his mother, and they're not here." Bastian turned away to get off the bed from the other side and his frame as he stood with his back to Lukas against the beam of sunlight through the curtained window looked so breathtaking like a fallen angel out of a poet's dream.

"And where are they?" Lukas felt something blocking the air in his throat as he asked.

"Cologne." Bastian turned around and Lukas tried his hardest to not to look at anywhere but his friend's face.

"Cologne? And where are we?" After all these conversations, this was the first time Lukas started to panic. Louis and Monika are in Cologne? What the fuck! What the hell is going on here?!

"If you're not actually kidding me, I might think that bottle of tequila must have something weird in it. But it's my birthday today so I'll let it pass." He walked over to Lukas' side of bed and the Pole stiffened. Bastian leaned down and without hesitation, kissed him on the lips like it's the most normal thing in the world to do. The kiss was slow and sweet and Lukas was so shocked he couldn't even breathe now. When the blonde pulled away eventually, he smiled his sweetest smile that made Lukas' heart stop beating, again. "We're in Ibiza, of course, my Prinz Poldi! Now get your lazy ass up so we can go party till we drop on my 30th birthday!"


	2. Chapter 2

What the fuck is going on here?!

Lukas lay staring at the ceiling of the cabin, still couldn't believe what's happening. It didn't make any fucking sense. How could he wake up in Ibiza when last night he lay down in Turkey? How could today be August the 1st all over again when it's already yesterday? How could Bastian be here? How could his wife and son be in Cologne and not with him on this yacht? There were so many questions running through his mind at the same time until Lukas felt like gagging so he took in a deep breath. He could hear the sound of running water from the shower Bastian's using. The blonde had asked him to get in together but Lukas shook his head a bit too eagerly. Bastian snickered and disappeared behind the curtain, didn't mind closing the door in case the Pole changed his mind.

Maybe this is all just a dream, Lukas told himself. He's still dreaming because this couldn't be really happening. Though he'd pinched his cheeks a hundred times to see if he's hurt, he's hurt, of course. But still this could be all just a dream, there's no more logical explanation because he recalled vaguely he’d thought about being with Bastian on his birthday before his mind plunged into a slumbering darkness. On one hand, he felt so embarrassed that his mind had such a perverted imagination that it created a dream with Bastian as his lover.

'Bastian as his lover', that thought echoed in his skull. Fuck, that sounded terribly wrong and at the same time he really liked it. Lukas blushed, feeling embarrassed with himself again.

The sound of running water stopped and after a minute Bastian appeared off the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his hips and another towel in hand with which he used to ruffle his hair dry. Lukas held his breath, Bastian looked so beautiful in the morning light with the fresh scent of lemongrass which was the Bavarian's favourite. He stood by the door and looked at Lukas and the Pole did his best to avoid those curious olive eyes. "Are you alright, Luki?" He asked eventually. Lukas saw him striding towards the bed from peripheral vision and he's suddenly discomfited.

"Yeah?"

Before he had time to cover his anxiety of having no clue of what's going on, Bastian reached the bed and in one fluid movement, straddled his hips. Lukas startled and stared at the Bavarian with wide eyes.

At least this time he had his bits covered by the blanket. He couldn't find his clothes, though, so he thought they might just come straight from the shower to bed without bothering with the clothes last night. The thought of what they might have done made him blush crimson again. He thought of taking some clothes from the wardrobe but he’s afraid it might look suspicious so eventually he decided to lie still under the duvet up to his chin.

"You seem off this morning," Bastian said and leaned in, olive eyes staring into Lukas' in seek of a hidden cause so the Pole averted his to somewhere else, preferably not on Bastian's body. He's also very aware of his nakedness under the quilt and that some of his body parts were affected by dint of the sight of a particular sexy someone and was intensified further by the close proximity. He couldn't breathe properly.

"Umm, I have a hangover, maybe." He recalled Bastian mentioning earlier about some bottles of tequila so he might as well use that for his benefit.

Bastian didn't answer but kept looking into Lukas' pale blue eyes. After a long uncomfortable silence during which the Bavarian still couldn't quite find the answer he liked, he leaned in and kissed the Pole on the lips once again. This time though Lukas still hadn't prepared for it, it wasn't shocking as much. Nevertheless, his heart drummed frantically against his ribcage and he prayed to any God that cared to listen right now that Bastian didn't hear it.

"Okay, then," the Bavarian said after eventually pulling away. He still looked at Lukas suspiciously but seemed to be more certain that he's still his same old Lukas. "Are you going to take a shower?"

"Umm, yeah."

To cause no further suspicions, Lukas got up and walked to the bathroom naked while feeling Bastian's eyes on his back the whole time. The shower cleared his head and it's the first time in this morning that he felt calm about the whole bizarre incident. When he wrapped a towel around his hips, he found that he now had the courage to handle everything God deemed necessary to throw his way, he'd catch it like a fabulous striker that he was and shoot a fantastic goal like it's a cannon ball.

Bastian wasn't there when he got out and Lukas almost felt relieved that he could dress in private. Getting out of the cabin, he strolled along the short hallway to the deck and found Bastian talking to someone. "I guess we can stay there all day," the Bavarian was saying. Lukas took the opportunity to look around. The yacht was small and they seemed to be the only ones on board except the crews since he didn't see anyone he recognized. The sun was still not high in the east so it wasn't that late. His stomach grumbled and he saw that Bastian had a churro in hand.

"Oh, you're here." The Bavarian saw him and also noticed that Lukas' eyes were on the churro rather than his face. "Hungry?" Reaching Lukas, he broke off the churro and offered a morsel to his mouth. The Pole hesitated for only a second before taking the piece of food in his mouth because he's too hungry to refuse. Bastian broke off another morsel. "Roberto will take us to a hidden serene cove. We can swim there and ride jet ski if you want, then we'll come back to party here in the evening."

"Oh." Roberto must be the captain. Bastian feed him again and this time he accepted the food willingly. It's good, though.

"Do you want some coffee?" The blonde asked, and without waiting for Lukas' answer, entwined their fingers together and dragged him to the kitchen.

Lukas felt dazed, it might be because of the heat of Ibiza's sun but he knew it's not. They reached a cabin that looked like kitchen and Bastian released his hand so he sat down on a chair. The Bavarian strode to the counter to make coffee for both of them and Lukas suddenly realized that today was Bastian's birthday, as he'd told him before, so he should be the one coddling him, not the other way around. He got up from the chair.

"Do you want a hand?" He asked as approaching Bastian from behind. Lovers or not, Bastian's still his friend and he used to be comfortable around him, Lukas didn't think that could change. Bastian turned his head and smiled and Lukas stopped dead in his tracks just behind the Bavarian.

"You better cook me brunch." He turned around and handed Lukas the mug. The smell of coffee permeated the air making Lukas' mouth water but he just stood there, so very close. Bastian's lean body looked trapped by the Pole's larger frame and Lukas had to resist the urge to step in further and close the gap between them. "Hey, take the mug," Bastian reminded him lovingly, he chuckled and didn't seem to mind their close proximity. After Lukas had taken the mug from him, the blonde caught the edge of the counter behind him with his free hand and leaned against it comfortably, sipping his coffee and looking at Lukas over the rim of his mug the same way he'd always looked at Lukas. And it dawned on him, for the first time, he must have got accustomed to it until he had overlooked it for the ten years that they knew each other, but Bastian always looked at him like this.

Like Lukas was the only thing that mattered.

The Pole felt his heart race in his chest and the urge to push Bastian's mug away and replace it with his lips got stronger. He took in a deep breath, he needed to get a grip, for fuck's sake! "What do you want for brunch?" He asked. Bastian smiled.

"Pancakes!" He said gleefully. Lukas raised his brow, amused.

"You want pancakes for brunch on your birthday?"

"Yeah. Why not? Unless you can bake strawberry cheesecake for me, that is." He giggled. His eyes sparkled like a child who'd just got a new toy and he looked both cute and mischievous at the same time. "And maybe some sausages," he added.

Finally Lukas made pancakes, sausages and scrambled eggs for them both. After brunch, they got up to the deck and Bastian said, "Take your shirt off, Luki."

"What?" The Pole's bewildered.

Bastian looked at him funnily. "Yes, hurry up, so we can have sex here before anyone comes out." The answer stunned Lukas, the images of Bastian and him having sex flashed into his mind and his face heated up. Bastian gazed at his reaction, amused. "What's wrong with you this morning? Come here, idiot." He approached the Pole, grabbed the hem of his shirt and took it off. Lukas was paralyzed to the spot and didn't protest when Bastian caught his hand, dragged him to a deck chair and put him in it.

Bastian applied sunscreen on his skin and Lukas stared at him helplessly while the other leaned over and moved dexterous hands on Lukas' chest and tried his best not to have a hard-on. He had ticklish spots on his sides and he stiffened when Bastian's hands moved there. The blonde hid his smile and tried his best to make his touches un-ticklish and Lukas thought he's quite good at what he's doing. But when he thought Bastian would be a good boy he rarely was and didn't tease him, he tickled Lukas’ sides and the Pole jumped up from his chair immediately. The Bavarian laughed so hard.

When it's his turn, Lukas squeezed the cream onto his palm, took a deep breath and applied it to the Bavarian's pale skin.

Bastian's skin was soft. He moved his hands all over the Bavarian's upper torso as well as his neck and face. He had touched it a thousand times before but not like this, not like he cherished it, like it's the most beautiful thing he'd ever laid hands on. After that, they sunbathed in deck chairs for half an hour, Bastian reading and Lukas thinking. Then the blonde dragged him to jump off the yacht and swim around the boat, Bastian being as touchy-feely as possible as usual, more than once that he jumped on Lukas' back and piggy-rode him and the Pole's heart swelled. After they're a bit tired, they rode jet skis. The atmosphere was pacific, there were only a few yachts anchored not far away. The water was cobalt if he looked down from one side of the yacht while on the other side it had turquoise color. They're surrounded by verdant trees on coral sandstone which made an amazing contrasting image against the sapphire of Mediterranean. There's no lodge in sight until Lukas thought they had the whole world to themselves. When they got on the yacht again, they're so hungry so Lukas fried sausages while Bastian cooked pasta for them both.

When they're full again, they lazed away on the yacht, joking about every ridiculous thing and Lukas realized after so many hours spending together that this Bastian was still his Bastian, his same old little bunny. He's still adorably silly while at the same time having that charismatic aura about him that Lukas always thought made him very attractive that it took less than Lukas thought to make him comfortable and become his larger-than-life self once again. The only difference now was that there didn't seem to be the concept of personal space between them in Bastian's thought, although it's just a level above their usual state of physical intimacy actually.

Lukas didn't ask many questions, he knew this didn't seem like a dream but he didn't know any better explanation so it must be a kind of dreams somehow. He didn't feel like testing his theory again because as far as he'd learnt from this reality, he could feel pain, like in real reality, he's hurt when he pinched his cheek and was bruised when he knocked his shin against a table leg. Everything felt too real and he tried to grasp it by acting as normal as a man could.

The sun was still high up when they left the cove to Ibiza Town Marina and Lukas still lay lazily in the deck chair while Bastian got down to take a shower. He's about to doze off when he felt a peck on his cheek. "Hey." Lukas sprang his eyes open and found Bastian there, his face's so close and his olive eyes looked like they're shining when reflecting Ibiza's sunlight. Lukas's breath caught in his throat and he knew he must have been looking at Bastian with something like heart eyes because eventually the blonde shyly broke their eye contact. "Don't look at me like that now, I just took a shower and you also need to-" but the Bavarian couldn't finish his sentence because Lukas lunged at him and sealed his lips with a kiss.

Bastian was surprised but then he closed his eyes, lifted his hand to run fingers through Lukas' short hair and deepened the kiss. Lukas caught the blonde's nape and pulled him in further. Bastian moaned into the kiss and the vibration ran from their connected lips straight to his groin and the Pole realized that he'd wanted this from Bastian since as long as he could remember.


	3. Chapter 3

The kiss was hot, more burning than the sun and Lukas felt ablaze inside. It could be counted as the most passionate kiss he’d ever experienced and he couldn’t recall feeling anything like this before, not even with his wife and that scared him a lot but he still held on. Bastian’s tongue prodded his lips and he didn't even resist, and it's his turn to moan.

The Pole ran his hand to Bastian’s throat, caressing the spot there incitingly and could practically feel the Bavarian shiver under his palm. Lukas gasped and was suddenly scared by a thought that had never occurred to him before but it’s currently bombarding his head, the thought that he’d love to have a naked and aroused Bastian in his bed, like right now.

Then the Bavarian broke the kiss.

"You need to take a shower now. We'll get into town in half an hour," he said before pecking on his lips one more time and got up. Lukas blinked, couldn't believe what had just happened, or what hadn't happened, rather. He'd like to blurt out whether they could probably make out first but as Bastian walked away, he looked over his shoulder and smirked upper-handedly.

Bastian, you fucking tease!

So Lukas got into the shower and by sheer will power didn't jerk off. He reappeared fifteen minutes later. Bastian was sitting in a chair on the deck wearing sunglasses and a fedora. He's in long-sleeve shirt and jeans, his legs propped up on a tabletop and he's playing his iPhone. Lukas realized that they had arrived at Ibiza Town. "Ready?" Bastian asked without looking up, seemed like too caught up in a game.

"Where are we going, Schweini?" Walking to stand behind him, Lukas looked over his shoulder to see what's on the screen, it's Candy Crush.

"S'Ametller, of course. You're the one who booked it," the blonde answered. "Yes!" He blurted out as passing to the next level then put his phone back in his pocket. If he hadn't been too caught up, Lukas doubted he'd let the suspicion pass. Bastian only stood up. "Okay, let's go."

Lukas followed Bastian out of the yacht to the marina then fell in steps beside him. The blonde put his hand around Lukas' shoulder and the Pole also put his around the other's waist. A fan saw them, screamed softly then dragged her friends to ask for pictures with the two of them. Bastian didn't reject. This happened quite a few times but Bastian didn't seem to mind and Lukas noticed that every time any fans recognized them, they'd look at them endearingly, not at either of them but both of them like an item, and he realized they liked the sight of them together.

Lukas' heart swelled again.

The esplanade was alive and Lukas couldn't remember the last time he'd come to Ibiza. It's a party island and he'd never been into parties, seriously, it's Bastian who was. Tourists were strolling along the boardwalk or sipping evening drinks both out in the open and under the shades that shielded them from the scorching sun leisurely like there's nothing to be in a hurry about in this world. Lukas always liked the prospect of summer, it's slow-paced, had a fairytale charm and more often than not it meant he'd be with Bastian.

Lukas looked at the guy whom he'd called his best friend for ten years, Bastian looked the same as he remembered before they parted ways at Berlin airport not so many days ago, though he seemed to be a bit glower. Lukas wondered whether it's because of the sex he assumed they had last night from the state he woke up in or was it just because Lukas was here with him, because, their teammates always said this, Bastian looked glower every time Lukas was around.

They arrived at a restaurant and Lukas realized he had to take charge in whatever was coming. He's the one who booked the table and he doubted that the Lukas here would stop just that. There must be a birthday cake, at least, though that's no surprise. He informed his name to a waiter and they were taken to a table with the best view. Lukas let Bastian follow a staff to a table for two by a large window while he asked a waiter.

"Hey, I'm sorry but have I already ordered something?"

The waiter nodded. "I'll give you a review of your order, sir. But I'm afraid we've already prepared the materials for some of the dishes." Then he disappeared behind the counter. Following him to the counter front, Lukas put his arm on it and tapped his fingers against the countertop restlessly. The waiter came back and handed him a list. Lukas glimpsed over the piece of paper, he ordered smoked salmon salad with apple and green salad with apricot and mozzarella for starters, cuttlefish and cod for main courses, a bottle of Chardonnay, and for dessert, strawberry cheesecake that came with candles.

Well, he thought that was thorough. "You can proceed." He handed the paper back and walked to their table.

"Problems?" Bastian asked.

"No, just checking." He sat down. The Chardonnay came, Bastian tested and after that it was poured into their glasses. Though Lukas didn't normally drink alcohols neither beer nor wine or whatever, he didn't have the heart to object Bastian tonight, it's his birthday anyway and he couldn't finish the whole bottle by himself. Okay, maybe he could, but he just simply shouldn't, alright?

The salads came and were finished real fast, Lukas could see that Bastian was as starving as he was. While they're waiting for the main courses, Bastian fidgeted with his dessert fork and Lukas wondered whether he'd like to skip to dessert already. He smiled, does Bastian have a sweet tooth, or is it just because today is his birthday? Lukas reached out to grab the blonde's fidgeted hand. Bastian looked up. "We haven't eaten the main courses yet and you're looking forward to the dessert. This is hardly fair to the restaurant." He held Bastian's hand just so. The blonde quirked his brow.

"It's my birthday today so I have a right to crave for cakes?"

"You'll be fat before you know it." Lukas clucked his tongue disapprovingly.

"It's just today, Poldi!" He chuckled. "And you always said that I'm too thin. I thought you'd like if I have some fats for you to cuddle, not only limbs and bones."

The thought of him cuddling Bastian might be so bizarre if he imagined it this morning but now, now it made him want to jump the Bavarian even more.

"If you're going to get some fats whatsoever, can I ask them to be in your butt?" Lukas grinned and though he could see sparks in his eyes, Bastian's cheeks reddened.

"Aside from being an idiot, Luki, you're a pervert." Bastian released his hand from Lukas' grip to snatch the wine glass instead. He leaned back in his chair, one arm crossed over his chest and he's sipping Chardonnay while looking over the rim of his glass like challenging for Lukas' comeback. The Pole was about to retaliate but the main courses had arrived.

The food was superb and they finished it in no time. When it came to dessert time, Lukas was suddenly nervous. He didn't know what the other him told the waiter on the phone about the queue and he'd forgot to ask. Also he'd just realized he didn't have any presents for Bastian. He suddenly felt ashamed, if he's Lukas who's actually Bastian's lover, would he prepare any present for him? Might be but what was it? He didn't see anything that looked like a wrapped gift in his bag when he dug for clothes this morning - the only telltale signs that it's his bag were the untidiness and a pair of frayed jeans he recognized as his because both Bastian and he used matching Louis Vuitton duffle bags. Or he might have already given it to Bastian last night, it could be but not likely.

Lukas was thinking about telling the blonde that he's going to the toilet so he could ask a waiter about the plan, but a staff arrived to clear their plates. "Do you like desserts now, sir?" He asked.

Lukas looked up and their gazes met. "Yes, please." The waiter nodded.

Two minutes later as Lukas and Bastian were chatting about anything ridiculous and sipping their wines, the restaurant’s lights went down and there were voices singing happy birthday in German.

By the dim light of dusk, Lukas could see Bastian's smile and the happiness on his face was accentuated by yellow candle lights that were approaching their table on a chunk of strawberry cheesecake by a group of waiters. The delight seemed to be contagious that Lukas found himself smiling as well. A waiter placed the cake in front of Bastian and as the song ended, the Bavarian looked up at Lukas and the Pole mouthed, ‘make a wish'. And he knew Bastian was doing as he's told though he didn't avert his eyes from Lukas. He blew the candles while their eyes still locked and Lukas knew the wish must have been about him.

What have you wished for, Basti? Lukas thought back to his own wish, it's just yesterday, actually, that he wished he could be with his best friend on his birthday. And now he's here, sitting opposite Bastian while the birthday boy blew the candles on his birthday cake in a restaurant in Ibiza with only God knew how. The lights were on again and the smile on Bastian's face was illuminated further and Lukas felt something constrict in his chest.

"Happy birthday, my Bunny," he whispered, and Bastian's smile widened. Seems like it's not the first time Lukas called him like this here.

"Thank you, my Prinz." The blonde couldn't stop smiling. He picked up a slice of strawberry and was about to put it in his mouth but then changed his mind, he reached across the table to feed Lukas. The Pole opened his mouth and took it. "Is it good?" He asked.

Lukas swallowed. "What do you take me for? A guinea pig?"

"No, I'm taking you for a guinea penguin." He giggled and popped a strawberry in his mouth. Lukas was bewildered for a second then recalled that long time ago Bastian named a penguin doll he'd got from a journalist after him and they joked about the penguin taking penalties in an interview. He laughed so hard.

"You still remember that!"

"Of course I remember that, Poldi the Penguin is on my nightstand. You know it." He looked at Lukas suspiciously again and the Pole felt the need to change the subject.

"Is the cake good, Basti the Bunny?"

"Poldi the Guinea Penguin must try it first." Bastian scooped a morsel of cheesecake by his fork and reached to feed Lukas again.

 

Lukas couldn't believe that they finished the cake, it's definitely not for two people but as they chatted, finished the wine (Bastian's doing, mostly) and ordered a new bottle, they kept eating and Bastian kept feeding him until Lukas realized eventually that the CHEESEcake was all gone and outside the sky was dark. It must be after ten now, how long have they been sitting here anyway? If he wanted to stay fit, he must never eat like this again, ever. Birthday was no excuse.

"I'm too full," Lukas groaned and laid a hand on his stomach to feel the effect first-handedly. Bastian smiled and poured more wine into his glass but didn't give more to Lukas.

So basically after they left the restaurant for Ushuaïa, one of the most popular open-air nightclubs in Ibiza, Bastian was more than tipsy. They took a taxi. The club had a large swimming pool in the middle and was packed as they arrived although it's not even midnight yet. They're led to the VIP lounge on a raised platform and Bastian ordered a bottle of champagne. They lay cozily on a king-size four-poster bed with white bound curtain as Bastian leisurely sipped pricy Charles Heidsieck.

The music was loud, apparently there's BBC Radio 1 Party also featuring superstar DJs on stage like David Guetta and Afrojack. Patrons who were their fans approached asking for pictures when they noticed them. And even though Lukas was quite sure Bastian was drunk, he seemed collected enough to talk to anyone who came up to chat, congratulate him for the World Cup or if they remembered, wish him a happy birthday, with respectable manners.

As the night wore on, Bastian was stoned and though Lukas wasn't, he still didn't trust himself to not do anything stupid at this late hour. His arm was around the blonde's waist all the time as they lounged comfortably in bed. The Bavarian snuggled up against his neck and Lukas kissed the top of his head endearingly. Then he felt Bastian kiss the skin on his neck and suck it, he goosebumped and the sensation ran straight to his crotch.

Shit.

"Umm," Bastian moaned and Lukas suddenly felt self-conscious. The blonde's breaths were hot on his skin and the scent of lemongrass shampoo on Bastian's hair mingled with the wine-tainted breaths made him feel something he'd never felt towards them before: aroused. Like Bastian could read his mind, or he might actually know Lukas well enough, he whispered, "I finish this bottle and we go back."

Lukas looked at the bottle in the ice bucket, he couldn't even remember how many bottles Bastian had drunk tonight. "You should stop drinking by now, Schweini."

"You'll help me with the rest?" The blonde chuckled against Lukas' neck and it's both ticklish and provoking at the same time.

"Of course, I'll help you with the rest." He leaned over the Bavarian to snatch the bottle without losing their touches. Bastian's free hand was laid on Lukas' stomach and he stroked it lovingly. There's only a quarter of liquid left and Lukas finished it soon enough. As they paid the bills and headed out to wait for taxi, they couldn't keep their hands off each other. One of Bastian's arms was around his waist while the other clung to the Pole's shirt on the front. Lukas's arm was on the blonde's shoulder and he kept supporting the birthday boy when he lost balance.

It didn't take long before they arrived back at the yacht. They stumbled into their cabin, making as subtle noises as possible because though the island was still pretty much alive, it's four in the morning. Lukas put Bastian on the bed and was about to turn to the toilet but the Bavarian caught the collar of his shirt, pulled him down on the bed as well and crushed their lips together.

It's the most demanding kiss they'd shared so far, and combined with alcohols in their veins Lukas knew it couldn't get worse, or better, or whatever. The kiss was sloppy and drunk and Lukas had never been so turned on in his life. Suddenly Bastian put his hand on Lukas' groin and the Pole gasped shock. Their lips broke apart. The blonde ran the palm of his hand up along Lukas' hard erection under his jeans and whispered slurredly against his lips. "Luki...," he bit the Pole's lower lip seductively and Lukas felt dazed like he's intoxicated but definitely not by alcohols, "...fuck me," Bastian said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't know what penguin I'm talking about, read this:
> 
> http://loewsmiserables.livejournal.com/258246.html
> 
> Also, thank you for all the feedbacks. I love you guys. ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Lukas was so stunned he didn't know what to do.

He knew this time would come eventually, sooner rather than later, seeing that they did just that last night and tonight's still counted as celebration day. But he still couldn't believe his own ears. He'd never heard Bastian use that tone before, it's commanding, pleading, desirous, and sounded desperate at the same time. And it made Lukas even harder. He'd never felt like he was desired for a long time, Monika didn't even pretend that she cared anymore. But here, in this bed tonight, he felt like Bastian really needed him, like he couldn't keep on breathing without him.

Lukas jerked as Bastian put fingers under his balls, pressed and dragged them up along his length. His breath caught when they stopped at his zipper and the blonde pulled it down. He couldn't move so he waited as Bastian also finished with the button of his jeans. His next move sent Lukas gasp again when he put his hand in Lukas' y-front and touched his hard-on skin on skin.

"Luki," Bastian moaned and Lukas couldn't help but arch into the touch. The blonde nuzzled up against his neck again and bit the skin there. Lukas' breath hitched and before he knew it, he lunged to kiss Bastian and shoved him onto his back. Putting his hand on Bastian's crotch, he squeezed it and it's Bastian's turn to gasp.

"Fuck, Schweini," Lukas moaned against his lips. This, all of these, were really too much for only a day, with him waking up to a naked and sleeping Bastian in his bed and all, but he couldn’t hold back now. He hurriedly fumbled with Bastian's jeans but his hands shook so they kept missing the buttonhole. The blonde swatted his hands away unsatisfactorily and unbuttoned it himself. Lukas didn't even wait for him to push the jeans away properly, he put his hand in Bastian's underwear to touch the full length and the blonde gasped aloud as trying to take off his jeans and y-front.

Lukas had seen Bastian naked this morning but not in this state, not when he's full-fledged. He'd never seen him like this before and the image of Bastian lying and panting like this was so arousing it hurt. Bastian hurriedly took his own shirt off before fumbling with the Pole's. Lukas threw his shirt away unceremoniously and pushed his jeans and underwear off properly as well before flopping down on Bastian to kiss him hard and move his hand to the blonde's balls and perineum.

Bastian jerked and spread his legs further. Lukas' hand shook as he slid his finger down to Bastian's entrance. The blonde took in a deep breath but Lukas didn't even know what he's doing when he pressed his middle finger on the pucker.

It must be like having sex with girls. How much could it be different? Lukas thought as he pushed a finger in. The heat immediately enveloped him and the space was so, so tight. Bastian gasped and it sounded more like pain than pleasure. "Did I hurt you?" Lukas whispered in his ear, didn't dare moving. Bastian ground out,

"Fuck, I need lube."

Lube? Yes. Of course. "Where is it?" He pushed himself up with his free hand, his mind was hazed with lust and he couldn't see anything beyond Bastian right now.

"I don't know, Luki! You're the one who put it away last night!" Bastian snarled, and when he noticed Lukas' still-dumbfounded countenance, he ground out again, "try that drawer." He jerked his head in the direction of Lukas' nightstand. It's too far away so the Pole reluctantly pulled his finger out, went fumbling in the drawer in a dim light and found it. He squeezed a generous amount out. Bastian lay panting, his eyes on Lukas' hands all the time. Lukas had never used it before but he quite had an idea what it's for.

Bastian gasped as the coolness of lube touched his skin directly, on the pucker of his entrance first then Lukas slowly pushed a finger in. He didn't dare squeezing too many in at the same time but as he realized that Bastian seemed fine with only a finger, he pushed in more.

"Fuck, Luki!" The blonde jerked, grabbed Lukas' biceps and dug in his nails. He pressed his lips tight like trying to control himself but the olive-colored eyes bore into Lukas' bright blue ones and they were pleading silently. The Pole stopped what he's doing. Bastian didn't plead him to stop, he pleaded him to just get on with it.

Taking in a deep breath, Lukas slowly took his fingers out. He thought he knew what he had to do next but at the same time he didn't. He could hear his own boisterous heartbeats in his chest and hoped, might be in vain, though, that Bastian didn’t hear them. He shakily pushed the blonde's knee further apart to make space for his hips, but then Bastian caught his wrist.

"No, let me...," he trailed off, and in the dimness Lukas couldn't see but he had a feeling that he's blushing. The Pole quirked his brow questioningly. Bastian didn't elaborate further but caught Lukas' shoulder with another hand and shoved him onto his back on the bed.

What?!

Lukas' heart beat crazier. Don't get him wrong, and it might just be because of his state of mind toward this whole incredible incident but after almost 24 hours they'd spent together, it's quite obvious to assume that he's the top one, right? If it's the reverse, there's not only something wrong with the world around him right now, which obviously was, but also with him. Bastian snatched the tube of lube and straddled him. Lukas felt his stomach flip and spasm run down his spine in a high-intensity shockwave. He put his hands on the blonde's hips, stroking and kneading them slowly. "Basti..." Does this mean...?

Bastian didn't answer but his eyes never left Lukas’ when he squeezed a large amount of lube onto his palm and reached out for the Pole' cock from behind. He stroked it all over with the gel in his hand, making Lukas’ breath hitch loudly and Lukas’ hands on the blonde’s thighs tighten, before aligning its head against his own entrance and slowly pushed his hips down.

“Gosh!” Bastian hissed, squeezing his eyes shut at the same time Lukas swore, "Fuck!" as the burning heat enveloped him. Lukas’ hips bucked up of their own accord. His hands squeezed Bastian's pale skin and he knew that when he released them, there would definitely be a bruise there.

Bastian rode him unhurriedly, one hand on Lukas' abs, the other on the Pole's thigh supporting himself. His eyes locked with Lukas' all the time. Though Lukas just wanted Bastian impaled to his base right now, he took in a deep breath and let him take his time. Bastian tilted his head up and gasped softly, his hand squeezed Lukas' thigh tight every time he slid down further. Sweats sprouted on his forehead, neck and chest, glistening his pale skin even in street lights through the window. The image in front of him was just so sexy it took Lukas’ breath away and he felt something implode inside.

Eventually he sat on him, swallowed all his length deep to the balls and Lukas gasped, his hands on the blonde's hips forced the other guy to move and Bastian complied, his face contorted with something like the sweetest pain.

In the dimness of the night, the sight was so freaking arousing Lukas couldn't bear.

He flipped. One swift movement and then Bastian was under him, so dexterous that they didn't even lose their connection. He held onto the Bavarian’s forearms with both hands for dear life and without warning, he went all-in, slamming so hard. Noises of skin against skin: his hips against the cheeks of Bastian's butt, reverberated over and over again in their cabin like to emphasize the significance of the situation, like this wasn’t a privilege enough, on Bastian’s birthday night, that was. He squeezed his eyes shut and hissed loudly in Polish because of the heat, the tightness, but mostly because it’s Bastian, his Bastian. The blonde screeched and he felt Bastian's nails dig into his biceps again and was certain they drew blood this time. Bastian was so tight that Lukas felt like he's strangled and it made him dizzy and blind. Only a couple of minutes more and the Pole was about to lose his mind when suddenly Bastian climaxed. The effect of his orgasm made the tight wall clench his cock suffocatingly, Lukas gasped and came.

The Pole slumped down on Bastian and he could hear their hearts beating fast against one another in their heaving chests. The blonde panted, stroked Lukas' hair endearingly and feebly pecked him on his cheek. Lukas realized Bastian must be more exhausted so he shifted to lie beside him instead. Bastian didn't say anything but snuggled up against him, put an arm around his waist and his head on his shoulder. Lukas still panted while slowly coming down from the ecstatic orgasm, he just realized he's smiling like a lunatic.

He'd never felt this happy in a long time.... Okay, the last time he felt like this might be the Weltmeister celebration day in Berlin two weeks ago but again he's happy because Bastian was there, not anyone else. He felt a bit sticky because Bastian's seeds were all over their stomachs and there were also sweats but he's too spent to move now and that could wait because he could take a shower with Bastian tomorrow.

Tomorrow...

Suddenly the panic dawned on him. What will happen tomorrow? His stomach flipped and his heart beat faster again, this time not in excitement but complete fear. If today is just a dream, when tomorrow comes, all of this will disappear, Bastian in his arms would vanish. And if it's not a dream? No, that's impossible, it has to be a dream, there's no other explanation.

Suddenly Lukas held his arms around the blonde tighter, he didn't want to let him go, no. He wondered if he held him tight enough, could anyone take them apart. If he doesn't sleep tonight, could anyone still wake him up when tomorrow comes? Suddenly Lukas didn't feel sleepy at all despite all day long of exhaustion. He couldn't sleep, he mustn't, he would stay awake wide-eyed until the end of time if it meant he didn't have to lose Bastian.

After a while, the Bavarian snored softly and Lukas looked down at him. Bastian's face when he slept was like a child. His eyelids closed primly and his lips parted slightly. Lukas' heart clenched, he doesn't know what he would do if he wakes up to the real reality and back in his own bed. He would never look at Bastian the same again. And what about Louis and Monika? Suddenly everything was too much. He didn't know why God had to play a prank on him like this, to make him see what he shouldn't see, feel what he shouldn't feel, touch something that didn't belong to him and will make him yearn for it for the rest of his life.

He couldn't resist the urge to kiss Bastian on the lips, just lightly like a touch of butterfly because he didn't want to wake him up. He looked at the slumbering Bavarian for a long time and felt droplets of water at the corners of his eyes. He took in a deep breath, get your shit together, Lukas, he told himself. He kissed Bastian's forehead and pulled him closer, put his chin on the top of his head then stared at nothing beyond them and kept thinking and thinking.

The sun was already up outside and its dawn light was orange-gold just the same color as Ibiza's sandstone. He could hear seagulls chatting noisily about what they're up to in a new beautiful summer morning like this. Lukas was awake for a long time, listening to the bustling world outside. He's on the verge of dozing off about a dozen times but he resisted and though he felt like cuddling Bastian like this forever, he's thinking he should just get up and take a shower so that he wouldn't fall asleep.

As he's about to get up, he closed his eyes. Just a split second and his mind plunged into an eternal darkness, a dreamless lightless sleep.

***

Lukas felt bright light trying to breach his eyelids so he squeezed them shut further. Then he froze. Sunlight. It meant a new day had arrived and he'd slept through dawn. His heart drummed crazily against his ribcage. What would happen now? Lukas didn't want to open his eyes to face reality.

He lay still for a while, trying to discern any noises that could telltale his location but every sound seemed to mingle together. When he realized he could tell nothing apart, still closing his lids, Lukas shifted and felt his arm stuck under a weight of something.

He froze again, his mind reeled at the speed of light to analyze the surroundings by other three senses, since his ears didn't work and he didn't want to use his eyes yet. Well, he didn't think he could use his tongue, either. Lukas inhaled deeply but couldn't detect any scent that was significant, no smell of lemongrass, and his stomach dropped. He concentrated again and got back to the touch sense. Besides the weight on his arm, there's something on his shoulder which also tickled his cheek.

And then it struck him. Monika hadn't slept in bed with him for a long time now and it couldn't be Louis, could it? Lukas' heart beat like crazy and he sprang his eyes open.

What he saw was Bastian snuggling against him in the same position before he lost consciousness, still sleeping and breathing evenly. Late morning sunlight danced over his pale skin and the sight was so breathtakingly beautiful until Lukas felt something constrict in his chest.

The Pole felt light not only in his head but also all over his body that he felt like he could actually fly. He's so on cloud nine now that he couldn't hold his laughter, so he laughed and laughed. Bastian jerked awake again, and this time as his consciousness fully returned, he looked annoyed. "What again, Poldi?!" Then he set his eyes on the Pole's face and was paralyzed. "Luki, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Lukas didn't even realize he's crying. But it didn't matter, did it? He's still laughing when he pulled the stunned Bavarian to seal his lips with a kiss. The kiss lasted long enough for them to feel like choking so he pulled away to breathe. Bastian was still shocked. "Poldi, what-?"

Lukas put his hands on the blonde's face and whispered before kissing him again, "Basti, baby, I fucking love you."


	5. Chapter 5

What now?

Lukas thought as drying his hair with a towel silently. Yes, Bastian and he had just taken a shower together. No, they didn't have a sexy time in there, and Lukas liked it like this when he could still run his hands over Bastian's back while the blonde was washing his hair - okay, he'd admit that he did smack that ass when Bastian turned to walk out of the shower because he just couldn't help it. But his point was, they did everything like a couple in love without making it all about lust. Yes, they're in love, Lukas was certain about that. He'd never realized it was love before though he'd felt like this towards Bastian since forever. And no, it's not a love like he felt towards friends, brothers, or even his wife. Damn, it's a love that he felt towards Bastian and Bastian only. He didn't know what kind of love it was, just that it made him feel butterflies in his stomach and like his feet couldn't touch the ground.

But what will happen now? So apparently this isn't a dream. But if it's still actually a dream, it must be a kind of dreams like in the Inception movie where he didn't know he's still dreaming: a dream inside a dream or whatever. Could that even be possible? But if not, aren't other explanations even more incredible? Lukas didn't know what to think anymore. Of course, he's glad that he's still here with Bastian, but what if he would never wake up to the real reality again?

His heart sank. What about Louis?

He's the only thing that bothered him now. He'd left him in Colonge, according to Bastian. But then Ibiza wasn't a place for kids, right? Considering it's Bastian's birthday, it wasn't a surprise that he'd chosen this island to celebrate. It's quite understandable if he'd have just left Louis with Monika for the time period and it's so that he could have a time alone with Bastian as well.

Talking about Bastian, the Bavarian nagged him a bit about the tears on his cheeks this morning, but Lukas just brushed it off and said that he's just too happy to be with him, that they're tears of happiness, it's the fucking truth anyway and no one knew better than him how veracious it was. Bastian looked at him oddly but didn't badger further.

Something hit him on his bare back and he turned around. Bastian, still naked, grinned at him, a towel in hand. He just hit Lukas with it. The Pole smirked and hit back, aiming at Bastian's lower torso which he know the blonde would turn away in time so it hit his ass loudly. Bastian snarled and turned around to launch an attack on Lukas' biceps. The Pole retaliated, this time not by the towel, he smacked Bastian's ass with the palm of his hand.

The Bavarian's ass where he hit turned red immediately, Lukas was sure it'd add to the collection of his prints on Bastian besides the ones on his hips.

"You cheat!" Bastian snarled then lunged at him.

They ended up canoodling in bed still naked and Lukas thought he might have that sexy time which was lack in the shower but then Bastian pulled away, panting hard. "We can't do this now. Come on, let's get out." He pushed Lukas away and got off the bed. The Pole groaned and flopped down on his side on the bed, he's already half-hard.

"Why?" He whined like a child.

"Because it's already two and I'm fucking starving!" Bastian stooped to rummage through his bag giving Lukas an unhindered view of his ass which he thought was a nice spectacle. The Pole propped himself up on an elbow and enjoyed ogling Bastian's naked back until he turned around. The blonde quirked up his brow.

"Have you been staring at my arse?"

Lukas raised his brow challengingly. "Where else should I look?"

Bastian narrowed his eyes and slowly walked over to the bed with his usual gait Lukas deemed too sexy for anyone's own good. His heart beat fast as the blonde climbed over the bed to him. "Hey." He leaned in to peck the Pole on the lips and blushed a bit. "I don't want to say this because you're super-spoiled already, but let's go have some fun under the sun first when there's light and we can always get back to your fantasy when the night comes, you know...?" His voice trailed off, his fingers traced down the Pole's chest and his eyes were on the sheets, not Lukas'. He could tell that Bastian's embarrassed and a shy Bastian made everything 100 percent sexier. It sounded so promising that his breath hitched only thinking about what Bastian's offering.

Lukas lowered his head to kiss Bastian on the lips. "Of course, baby." And he grabbed the blonde's hand and dragged him out of bed.

So they dressed, greeted Roberto and his crews good afternoon and strolled out under the sun, Bastian in a t-shirt and broad shorts while Lukas opted for a tank top. They decided that they'd stay on-shore for the day. The sun was burning and they took a cab to Playa d'en Bossa. After that, the first thing they did was having a late lunch at a restaurant near the beach.

Then they got down on the hot golden sand and rent deck chairs, but Bastian took off his shirt and dragged Lukas into the sapphire sea before he even had a chance to put his butt in it.

They swam a bit but mostly just fooled around, they waited for big waves and jumped against them. They joked around and Lukas teased about thirty-year-old Bastian being too old for nonsensical child's play. The Bavarian tried to headlock then tickle him for the blasphemy. Lukas caught the blonde, carrying him in his arms to stop Bastian from attacking him. The blonde feigned a damsel-in-distress scream and when the Pole tried to dump him into the sea, he clung to Lukas' neck with both arms and pulled him down, too.

After a while, they got out of the sea and found out that there're new celebrities on the beach by the fans surrounding them. Sitting in deck chairs encompassed by a group of people were Neymar Jr, Dani Alves, and Co.

Right, Neymar’s in Ibiza at the moment, isn't he? Bastian stopped, clearly he's thinking the same thing that they should go saying hi to them. The Pole caught Bastian's hand, made their way to the group and squeezed in. "Neymar, can I have your autograph? You can use my blood to sign hear on my heart. Neymar, you're my idol, I love you!" Of course, his loudness drew everyone's attention. Bastian put his hand over his own mouth. For others, it might look like he's aghast, but Lukas knew him better that he's actually hiding a laughter for his boyfriend being an idiot that he was. The Pole's smile widened. Neymar looked up, there's confusion in his eyes for a second then it turned to recognition.

"Podolski? Schweinsteiger!" Neymar sprang up from his chair as well as Alves. Lukas dragged Bastian in further and everyone gave way to them until they reached the Brazilians. Neymar and Alves offered their hands to the pair, they shook and patted each other's backs amicably.

"Great to see you here, man." Lukas clapped Neymar on the shoulder while Bastian shared a friendly hug with Alves.

"Yes, it is! Isn't it Schweinsteiger's birthday yesterday?"

"Aha!" Lukas put his arm around Bastian's shoulder and pulled him close.

"Happy belated birthday, man," Alves said.

"Thanks. Actually, I'm thinking about going to Pacha tonight. You can join us, if you don't have any plan, that is." Bastian winked.

"That sounds interesting. We don't have any plan, of course." Neymar smiled.

They chatted about a couple of things more, like where they're staying or for how long they're going to be on the island. In the end, they ended up playing beach ball together, with Neymar's friends and family, too. After they're tired, they ordered drinks and lazed away in the deck chairs. It's a lazy summer afternoon and Lukas felt like he could live like this forever. Around six, they parted ways and promised to catch up again at Pacha.

They took a cab back to the marina. Upon walking back to their yacht, they saw a group of people congregating around something, or rather, someone.

"Paris, Paris, please."

The noises weren't particularly loud but Lukas could make them out nonetheless. Paris? Hilton? Okay, this one he hadn't expected here, not like Justin Bieber or Orlando Bloom or Neymar whom they just met. And Lukas had never met her before.

"Do you think it's okay if we're to ask her for pictures together?" He leaned to ask Bastian.

"You want pictures with Paris Hilton?" The blonde raised his brow. "Why?"

"Why not?" Lukas turned to ask him out of curiosity, but as he locked eyes with the Bavarian's, it dawned on him. He'd seen Bastian jealous before, well, actually quite often. Bastian would act like he's jealous every time Lukas made him feel like he's closer to other guys besides him, it'd be displayed on his face, his actions, his words. Though he'd never seen Bastian being jealous of girls before, there were only once or twice that he seemed like being jealous of Monika, but he'd never let it fully show. Not like right now.

"What? Schweini, are you jealous?" Lukas was baffled.

"Not really. First of all, I'm younger than her." Bastian giggled and Lukas realized the blonde was just teasing him. He must have got used to the fanboy in him now because it's just normal for him to squee when he met other celebrities. "Come on, then." Bastian grabbed his wrist and dragged him there. Paris was walking and like the whole group was flowing alongside her. "Why don't you shout to her like you did to Neymar? Let's see what she would react," Bastian leaned in to whisper. Lukas just quirked his brow.

"You really are jealous, aren't you?"

Lukas didn't know whether she would recognize them. Hell, he didn't even know whether she knew that Germany had just won the World Cup. As they approached her, a bodyguard came blocking them to not get too close but he recognized both German players at once.

"Can I have a picture with Miss Hilton?" Lukas gave his most charming smile to the bodyguard. He didn't know whether this kind of gesture would work on guys, clearly it worked on Bastian but he's hardly a benchmark, wasn't he?

"Yes," the bodyguard said and gestured for them to get through. Lukas walked past him.

"Paris," he called, like he's her friend but nope. Paris turned to him.

"Oh," she said, adjusting her sunglasses. "You're soccer players."

Great, at least she knows what type of athletes they are though on this continent they don't call it soccer. But whatever. "Yes, we're German footballers. Lukas Podolski, nice to meet you." He held out his hand and Paris shook.

"Bastian Schweinsteiger." Bastian followed suit.

"Can we have pictures with you?" The Pole got straight to the point. Paris smiled at the corner of her mouth like she always did and said, “sure.” So they gathered on both sides of her and the bodyguard used Lukas' iPhone to take pictures for them. "Thank you so much," the Pole turned to thank her after being handed back his phone.

"Actually, I'm planning on having a couple of drinks before heading out to dinner for the evening. Care to join me?" Paris asked.

"Oh," Lukas paused and glanced at Bastian for a permission. The Bavarian looked at him but betrayed nothing in those olive eyes. He gave no suggestions whatsoever so Lukas turned around, smiling widely. "Absolutely. Aha!"

He could practically see Bastian roll his eyes.

They got up on Paris' yacht with her and her entourage and the drinking started. Bastian's mood elevated considerably when there're alcohols in sight. He ordered Gin Tonic and Lukas opted for just a bottle of coke, ignoring the badgering of everyone on board.

Paris didn't talk much, mostly it’s her guy companions who asked the Germans about their World Cup experiences and the general going-on in the world of football, like the transfer window, Bundesliga and Premier League. Lukas was mostly the one who talked and joked, being the ever entertainer. More often than not that he drew laughter from everyone around the table including Paris with his humor. Bastian sat there, nursing his umpteenth glass of cocktail, being quite reticent but always having a sweet smile on his face.

Day faded into dusk and Paris promised to be at Pacha later. Going back to their yacht, they took showers, separately. Then under the moonlight, they strolled to a random restaurant for some quick dinners.

Party at Pacha started no sooner than midnight and Bastian was quite sober when the time came. Well, he said he's just buzzed anyway after drinks with Paris, though Lukas saw no feat at getting him drunk again.

The club was dark but it was constantly flashed by multi-colored electric lights. Lukas had never liked club like these, it made him feel like he'd be blind any minute. He'd prefer a wirtshaus over this any time.

They're in the VIP lounge and ordered their preferable drinks respectively, then they lounged comfily in a couch warming themselves up with drinks that would make them feel hot - Bastian mostly. Fans recognized them from time to time and came asking for pictures as usual.

The second team that arrived was Neymar's. They hugged, patted each other's back and congratulated Bastian on his belated birthday. Paris and Co. arrived later when the club was so very crowded. They took pictures together, cheered and danced. Lukas knew Bastian was already piss drunk as they danced together.

_Yo te miro, se me corta la respiración_   
_Cuando tu me miras se me sube el corazón_   
_(Me palpita lento el corazon)_   
_Y en silencio tu mirada dice mil palabras_   
_La noche en la que te suplico que no salga el sol_

_(I see you and this takes my breath away_   
_When you look at me I feel my heart_   
_(My heart beats slowly)_   
_And in silence your look tells a thousand of words_   
_The night when I'm begging of you not to let the sun rise)_

The song was in Spanish but Lukas kind of got the idea of the lyrics, he’s a master of translation after all. Okay, so he’d heard it before and had already looked up the lyrics translation on google, as simple as that, though he knew quite a lot of Spanish words, just so you know.

_(Bailando, bailando, bailando, bailando)_   
_Tu cuerpo y el mio llenando el vacío_   
_Subiendo y bajando (subiendo y bajando)_   
_(Bailando, bailando, bailando, bailando)_   
_Ese fuego por dentro me esta enloqueciendo_   
_Me va saturando_

_((Dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing)_   
_Your body and mine filling the void_   
_Moving up and down (up and down)_   
_(Dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing)_   
_That fire inside me is driving me crazy_   
_It's filling me up)_

He felt the fuego in his gut, not sure whether it’s because of his one too many drinks or something else, he had Bastian pressed against him after all. And they’re bailando, he could practically feel the blonde’s heat when they touched, his body and Bastian’s were so close it seemed like they became one in the darkness of the night.

_Con tu física y tu química también tu anatomía_   
_La cerveza y el tequila y tu boca con la mía_   
_Ya no puedo mas (ya no puedo mas)_   
_Ya no puedo mas (ya no puedo mas)_   
_Con esta melodía, tu color, tu fantasía_   
_Con tu filosofía mi cabeza esta vacía_   
_Y ya no puedo mas (ya no puedo mas)_   
_Ya no puedo mas (ya no puedo mas)_

_(With your physics and your chemistry and your anatomy_   
_Beer and tequila and your mouth with mine_   
_And I can't take it any more (and I can't take it any more)_   
_And I can't take it any more (and I can't take it any more)_   
_With this tune, your colour, your fantasy_   
_With your philosophy my head is empty_   
_And I can't take it any more (and I can't take it any more)_   
_And I can't take it any more (and I can't take it any more))_

His breath hitched and his head’s blank when Bastian put his arms around his neck, pulling them closer still. Not that the action itself was a surprise, maybe because they're in front of a hundred of people and he's so drunk in love.

_Yo quiero estar contigo, vivir contigo_   
_Bailar contigo, tener contigo_   
_Una noche loca (una noche loca)_   
_Ay besar tu boca (y besar tu boca)_   
_Yo quiero estar contigo, vivir contigo_   
_Bailar contigo, tener contigo una noche loca_   
_Con tremenda loca_

_(I want to be with you, to live with you_   
_To dance with you, to have_   
_A crazy night with you (a crazy night)_   
_And kiss your mouth (kiss your mouth)_   
_I want to be with you, to live with you_   
_To dance with you, to have a crazy night with you_   
_With a tremendously crazy one)_

He wanted to kiss Bastian’s mouth, yes, those pink lips that were only a few inches away. Even in the dark and his drunken state of mind, he could still imagine their warmth and wet touch and it sent spasm run down his spine. He wanted to be with him, like forever, have a crazy night with him. He wanted to live with him.

_Tu me miras y me llevas a otra dimensión_   
_(Estoy en otra dimensión)_   
_Tu latidos aceleran a mi corazón_   
_(Tu latidos aceleran a mi corazón)_   
_Que ironía del destino no poder tocarte_   
_Abrazarte y sentir la magia de tu olor_

_(You look at me and take me to another dimension_   
_(I'm in another dimension)_   
_Your heartbeats accelerate my heart_   
_(Your heartbeats accelerate my heart)_   
_What irony of fate not being able to touch you_   
_Embrace you and feel the magic of your smell)_

And yes, he knew he’s in another dimension. And this, all of these, wasn’t just his fantasy, it’s real, somehow, or maybe he just wanted it to be real so much that it became really real, he didn't know, he couldn't think straight anymore. No, he's not straight, he knew that since he gave in to the kiss with the Bavarian yesterday of course, but whatever. Here, in this new dimension, he could touch Bastian, embrace him, and feel the magic of his smell, like he couldn't do in the old dimension. But Lukas was still the same person, either in this dimension or that, his mind, his heart, his body belonged to none other than the one Lukas Podolski. And though Bastian looked merrier than ever, Lukas knew he's still the same old Bastian who's his best friend and if he wanted to kiss Bastian here, he'd definitely want to kiss Bastian there.

Before he knew what he’s doing, Lukas lunged to seal his lips with Bastian's.

He heard whoops all around and realized that everybody was cheering them, and it made him bolder. Lukas could feel Bastian smile against his lips and the blonde deepened the kiss, pressing further. His hands around Lukas’ nape trailed to his cheeks instead, holding his face so that he could savor the taste of Lukas’ lips properly, like he wanted the Pole to just stand stock-still over here and made this kiss last forever.

_Yo quiero estar contigo, vivir contigo_   
_Bailar contigo, tener contigo_   
_Una noche loca (una noche loca)_   
_Ay besar tu boca (y besar tu boca)_   
_Yo quiero estar contigo, vivir contigo_   
_Bailar contigo, tener contigo una noche loca_   
_Con tremenda loca_

_(I want to be with you, to live with you_   
_To dance with you, to have_   
_A crazy night with you (a crazy night)_   
_And kiss your mouth (kiss your mouth)_   
_I want to be with you, to live with you,_   
_To dance with you, to have a crazy night with you_   
_With a tremendously crazy one)_

Lukas put an arm around Bastian’s waist and pulled him in further, if that’s even possible. Yes, he wanted this kiss to last forever, too.

There’s another sound of commotion besides the cheers and eventually Lukas pulled away reluctantly, mostly because he’s breathless. After he’d adjusted to the world which consisted of more than Bastian’s lips and Bastian’s smell and Bastian’s heat, he realized there’s another object of interest among the crowd in the VIP lounge. He quirked his brow and as the crowd gave way to the newcomers and he could see them clearly, he's surprised to realize who were there.

“Kiss him. Kiss him!”

“Would you surrender to the Germans? You’d better not!”

“Come on, show them how we Spaniards really kiss!”

The cheers were even louder than before and Lukas smiled euphorically. Fernando Torres flushed crimson as Sergio Ramos, smirking, pulled him closer with an arm around the other Spaniard’s waist and crushed their lips together.

***

Ibiza was warm even in the middle of the night unlike Munich and he really liked that. It's only midnight and Bastian's a bit tipsy, he'd had quite too many wines after dinner at a restaurant he went with friends. They'd just arrived at Pacha and Bastian realized he hadn't talked to Lukas all day, neither text nor call. They texted and there's that tweet yesterday but since then Lukas was absent. He wondered whether his friend was asleep yet because he missed him a bit, it wouldn't be right to end a day without contacting each other.

Without hesitation, Bastian pushed the speed dial button and waited as the dial tone rang a couple of times before the other end picked up.

"Basti?"

"Hey, Luki." The Bavarian walked away from the nightclub's entrance so that he could hear Lukas' voice more clearly, it's wild in there. Steffen turned to call him but as seeing him on the phone, he shut his mouth. "I thought you might be asleep."

"Umm, not yet, not in a while," was Lukas' answer.

"You stay up late tonight? Aren't you tired? How's today?" Bastian asked.

"Umm, fine, I guess." Lukas' voice was strange, not the tone but the vibes. Bastian quirked his brow.

"What do you mean by 'I guess'? Is there anything wrong?"

"What could be wrong?" Though the meaning was oblivious, Lukas' tune was still a bit weird, like he's precautious. Precautious of what?

"I don't know. You sounded strange. How's Louis?"

"He's fine."

"Does he like Turkey?"

"Yes, of course." Then there's silence. "Hey, umm, you're in Ibiza, right?

"Yeah, why?"

"When will you be back?"

"Monday, I guess. Bayern has a pre-season match in Portland on Wednesday."

"Can we meet?"

That request was unexpected, Bastian was surprised. "When? Why? You miss me already?" He joked.

"Yes." But Lukas' answer was serious and Bastian found his heart beating in a strange rhythm to that.

"Did your head get hit or something today, Poldi?"

"No." The Pole laughed, and Bastian felt oddly relieved. Lukas had a potent laughter that always made him smile along with him. At least he knew he's still his same old Lukas, the one who's his best friend for ten years. "I mean it, Schweini. So can we meet up?"

"So there's nothing special, just that you miss me?" He still found it strange, Lukas had never been like this before. They normally met up only during international call-ups, but then, he would be crazy to reject Lukas.

"Of course."

"Where do you want to meet? Munich?"

"That'd be fine for me."

"It would have to be Monday's evening, then. I'll have to catch a flight to Portland on Tuesday. Will that be okay? When will you be back from Turkey?"

"I'll see you on Monday’s evening in Munich," Lukas assured, and he sounded more relieved than earlier.

"Okay, alright," Bastian murmured.

"Are you clubbing later?"

The Bavarian smirked. "You know me, Luki. I'm in front of a club, actually."

"Basti!" Steffen called from the entrance. Bastian turned his head to glance at him.

"Hey, I've gotta go now."

"Have fun, mein hase."

Bastian smiled. "Good night, Luki."

The Bavarian hung up. As he walked over to his awaiting friends at the nightclub's entrance, he felt unprecedentedly alive, like he sensed somehow that his life was about to change, in a considerable way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘Bailando’ lyrics translation was taken from <http://lyricstranslate.com/en/bailando-dancing.html-0#ixzz3ALX0jAG9>
> 
> And feedbacks, yay!


	6. Chapter 6

This reality was even more interesting than he originally thought.

Not only Bastian and him, but also Sergio Ramos and Fernando Torres? And everybody seemed fine about it, like it's the most natural thing in the world that footballers would kiss one another. Actually, it didn't occur to him before that Bastian and him were public. He knew they'd been in Ibiza celebrating Bastian's birthday only the two of them and such without hiding anything from anyone on this island, but they could still be deemed as best friends nonetheless. It's not until the kiss in front of the crowd in Pacha this minute that Lukas realized the whole world knew about their actual relationship, and it seemed that they knew about Sernando's, too.

So the party got bigger yet again, Sergio Ramos and Fernando Torres joined them and the series of selfies began. Lukas continued his deeds, which comprised of drinking and dancing while holding Bastian and keeping the queries in his heart. He became more observant: of Sernando, public's attention, fans' reaction, and even of Bastian who didn't seem to have any shred of demureness whatsoever and acted like he'd acted towards Lukas all this time, which no one seemed to mind, actually. And that's really surprising.

The club was blurry for a time then it's clear before becoming hazy yet again as Lukas drank into the night and had to stop several times when he realized that he shouldn't be drinking. With Bastian in his arms, all he could think of was that how astonishing everything in this world had become, one minute he looked at Ramos and Torres and felt a pang of jealousy at how easy they seemed to be around each other, how open they could act towards one another without caring public's condemnation, how much they seemed to be infatuated with each other, then the next minute he looked in his arms, recognized what he had and realized it could as well be Bastian and him out there and no one would even care. The idea was so novel and bemusing to him he couldn't yet wrap his mind around it.

Ramos and Torres approached them.

"Let's do this the right way, Podolski. I think the four of us shall take selfies together," Ramos said in a heavy accent and winked. Lukas grinned and complied. The four of them took selfies together with Ramos' smartphone, Bastian the drunkest of all, then Ramos hauled Torres closer to plant a kiss on the other Spaniard's cheek while letting the camera capture the magic moment. Lukas didn't look around but could feel other cameras snapshot the lovey-dovey scene for references as well, and then he felt the urge to do as Sernando do, to be as open as them without heeding the world's opinions of their behavior. So he pulled Bastian closer, nuzzled up against the other's cheek, but before he could do what he planned to do, the blonde, either he could read Lukas' mind or he also felt the spur of the moment, turned to plant a kiss on his cheek.

As the camera snapped their photos, he wondered what his Instagram password in this world was and set to find out first thing the next morning.

Then Neymar and Alves joined them and the world erupted into laughter and blurred pictures once again. They partied until dawn, Lukas felt like he's about to pass out when the clock struck seven and the music segued into cooling down. They bid one another goodbye, most of them didn't have that much consciousness left anyway. Lukas hauled Bastian into a cab, though it's a short way from here to their yacht, he didn't think Bastian could walk straight for a distance of only five metres and the blonde affirmed the notion by limping like an invertebrate in the Pole's arms.

They reached the yacht as the sun hung high in the bright blue sky. Throwing Bastian on the bed, Lukas forced himself to proceed to close all the blinds in the room, the light was too bright for his bedtime liking. Then he flopped down beside the Bavarian on the bed and pulled the blanket to cover them both then sank immediately into the shroud of velvety darkness which enveloped his soul like a fetus in the womb.

***

Lukas jerked awake.

It's dark all around and the Pole had to adjust his eyes to the dimness for a minute. When he could make out the outline of everything in the room more clearly, he paused and listened, trying to figure out what triggered his awakening. It's dark so it could be in the middle of the night, then why would he startle awake? Then he recalled last night, or rather this morning, and his act of closing all the blinds hindering sunlight. So this might not be in the middle of the night, shouldn't be. God, wouldn't it be marvelous if they wake up just in time for partying all night again? Lukas grimaced, then he realized that he might not even be in Ibiza. Again, fear gripped his heart and Lukas snapped his head around to look at the other side of the bed.

Bastian was still lying there, on his stomach and in the same clothes he wore last night. He's breathing quietly, still deep in the dreams. The Pole exhaled softly and slowly in relief and couldn't help the corner of his mouth from turning up into a smile. So this was it then, three mornings in a row and he still had Bastian to himself. He didn't know how long he would have this invaluable moment, didn't know when this dream would be snatched away from him, this dream with Bastian in it, so he had to make the most of every living-the-dream moment, to live like he won't have tomorrow...

Slipping out of bed, Lukas walked straight to the nearest window and turned up the blind. Ibiza was still bright outside, it must be just after noon and the Pole realized what had awakened him, it's his stomach. It's grumbling for something to digest after having only liquids in the past 12 hours. The Pole looked over his shoulder to the slumbering Bavarian and decided that he'd make do for this meal and would let Bastian, for the first time in three mornings, sleep in.

So Lukas showered then got to the kitchen. He fried eggs and sausages and had them with rolls of bread. Roberto came in to greet him and asked what the plan for today was. Lukas looked at the time on his iPhone screen, which was two in the afternoon, and informed the Spaniard that they might not go anywhere today since Bastian was still asleep.

After the meal, Bastian still didn't wake up and Lukas didn't feel the need to rouse him. He appreciated some time alone so that he could reflect on everything that life, or blessing?, had thrown a curve at him in the last couple of days. The first thing that immediately sprang to mind when he simply paused in the hectic pace of life was Louis.

Shit, Louis.

Lukas snatched his phone and dialed Monika's number without even thinking. The signal rang three times before the other end picked up.

"Hello," Monika's stern voice answered.

"Monika, is Louis there? Can I talk to him?" He tried to squash down the uncertainty.

"I think you'll have to answer a lot to him, Lukas."

Lukas quirked his brow. "What do you mean by that?" but he didn't get the answer because Monika had already handed the phone to Louis.

"Dad?" Louis' energetic voice ran through the line.

"Hey, Louis," Lukas couldn't help feeling relieved, he didn't know he'd been holding his breath until now. Louis' voice was as he remembered, and he could imagine Louis' lit-up face as he heard Lukas' voice, the same as Lukas' face was now. "How are you?" he asked, his heart still drummed in his chest ecstatically.

"Okay," Louis murmured, then, "why didn't you call me yesterday and the day before yesterday?"

Lukas' heart raced in his chest, this time not because of euphoria but panic. He didn't know he’s supposed to call his son every day or something like that.

"Louis, I'm so sorry," he didn't know what to say better than that, then added just for the sake of it, "but you didn't miss me that much, I'm sure, right, kiddo? If so you would've called me."

"I wanted to," Louis answered immediately, "I almost called, but mommy said I shouldn't bother you. It's Schweini's birthday and mommy said I should leave you alone. But I didn't think Schweini would mind."

Lukas didn't know what to say to that. He didn't know what kind of relationships they all had in this world. What's left between Monika and him? Are they on friendly terms or not? Did their relationship end well? Are they divorced? Or did they even get married in the first place? What does Monika think of Bastian? And what does Louis think? Would he think that Bastian stole his dad from his mom and him? How could Bastian handle Louis? Does he like him or not, and vice versa? There were so many things he didn't know, too many questions running in his head right now and none of them was answered.

He must have been silent for quite a while because Louis spoke up again, "Schweini wouldn't mind, right, dad?" his voice didn't seem so certain this time.

"Of course he wouldn't mind. You know him," Lukas opted for the safe answer then changed the topic, "what are you up to today?"

"Umm, practicing football," Louis murmured sheepishly and Lukas couldn't hold back a smile. This part of Louis was still the same and he couldn't tell how much he found that bit precious, Louis was bashful about his football skills because he thought he would never be as good as Lukas, but he always kept practicing and would never be willing to tell his dad what tricks he's working on currently so that he could surprise Lukas afterwards. Of course, Lukas always said Louis was doing real great at this age - and that was pure truth - and always told him he underestimated himself - which was also true. On the other hand, it might be good that he kept trying and pushing himself like this, nothing would come of the hard work except a greater achiever, as long as he didn't overdo it, of course. And Lukas would never ask how much progress he's doing, knowing Louis would show him when he's ready.

"Okay, have fun then," so that's what all he said.

"You'll be home the day after tomorrow, right?" then Louis asked, and Lukas quirked his brow. Is that so?

"Is that what I told you?" He didn't really know, he hadn't bothered checking the flight ticket out of the island before. He'd have to look in his duffle bag if there's something.

"Yes, you did!" Louis sounded panicked and Lukas felt extremely guilty all of a sudden. "You're coming, aren't you?" His voice wasn't as confident as before and Lukas felt his heart clench.

"Yes, yes, of course I'll be there," he assured the boy. He missed Louis, he needed to see him, and the sound of his panicked son, feared that Lukas would abandon him once again, drove him to make up his mind. He'd go to Cologne no matter what, whether the ticket said otherwise, he knew he could always change it.

"'Kay," Louis sounded relieved, then, "what are you doing today?"

Lukas' eyes flicked to his watch, it's half past two and he didn't know yet what today's plan was. It might not be wise to tell his son that he'd just woken up and had the first meal of the day just half an hour ago, it didn't seem like a role model thing. So he answered, "Maybe just chilling on the deck, today is like a rest day."

"Is it warm there?" Louis sounded envious and Lukas felt guilty once again that he didn't bring Louis here with him.

"Yes, kind of. But Cologne is warm, too, isn't it?"

"A bit," he answered. "Hey, dad, I've gotta go."

"Football?"

"Umm, yeah."

"Okay, talk to you tomorrow?"

"Don't forget to call!"

"I won't," he paused. "Tell your mom to take care," he said. "And you, too."

"Okay. Bye, dad."

"Bye, son."

And Louis hung up.

Lukas took the phone away from his ear and stared at the screen for a little while longer, deep in thought. Then he browsed through pages and pages of application, wondering where he put Facebook.

It's there, on the first page. Lukas wondered why he'd never bothered finding it before in the past two days, he might have been overwhelmed by every mind-blowing fact until he forgot about trivial things like these. Though they usually played a big part in his daily life, they weren’t that much important when you discovered that you're gay with your best friend, were they?

The application remembered his password and Lukas relieved that he didn't have to try to crack it. He held his breath before browsing through news feeds. As far as he could see, his friend lists were quite the same.

Then he checked his newest post, and what he saw surprised as well as relieved him,

_'Alles Gute zum Geburtstag mein Hase. Ich liebe dich Bastian Schweinsteiger. #aha #poldi'_

Below the caption was a selfie of Bastian and him, arms on one another's shoulder and they're grinning blissfully. The picture was taken on the very early hours of August the 1st, seeing from the posted time. There's also a box of present in the photo: small plain brown box with a tiny gold ribbon. Lukas didn't know what's in it but at least he knew that he'd already given a gift to Bastian on the early hours of his Birthday.

But did he just confess his love of his best friend on the wall of his Facebook? For the whole world to see? Well, he knew since last night that the world knew about them already but still, for real? And there were like two million likes on this post alone. Fuck, two millions! How many followers does he have anyway?

He scrolled down further and found a lot of selfies of Bastian and him and he wondered when did all of this started: the thing between Bastian and him. How could he find out about that? He didn't presume he'd have his autobiography all the way back since the dawn of their relationship on Facebook. The Pole was struck straight that second by an idea. Well, maybe not on Facebook, and it might not be an autobiography, but surely there must be something online, he just had to google 'Schweinski'-

"What are you doing?"

Lukas startled at the same time as two arms embraced him from behind. Bastian kissed the side of his head and tightened his arms around Lukas' shoulder. He didn't hear him coming. "Nice smell," the blonde murmured. The Pole quirked his brow.

"You mean my hair? It's your shampoo." Bastian smelled nice as well, afresh because he'd just got out of the shower.

"No, I mean the coffee."

Lukas just realized he had a cup of coffee in front of him, he'd drunk only half of it before getting caught up in investigating his own life. The rest must be cold by now. "Be a nice housewife and refill my cup before getting your own," he teased and could feel Bastian's pout beside him. His grin widened.

"I'm not a housewife, asshole!" He bit the Pole's nape, Lukas yelped.

But the Bavarian docilely walked over to the coffee machine, snatched Lukas' mug with him and refilled the cup before getting his own. Walking back, he handed the mug to Lukas and sat down on a seat next to him.

"You want lunch?" Lukas asked, didn't wait for an answer, he'd already got up to prepare some. He cooked what he'd had for himself: fried eggs and sausages. He sat beside him and while he waited for him to finish the meal, he opened up Instagram.

There were so many notifications. Lukas browsed through them and found what he's looking for. It said that 'ft9_official' took a photo of him.

The photo was the one they took last night, of course, with Torres in Ramos' arm and Bastian in his. The caption said 'See whom we met in Pacha! Happy Birthday Schweinsteiger and long live Prinz Poldi!' Likes were up to over a hundred thousand.

"I'm thinking, do you want to stay at Formentera tonight?" Bastian asked.

"What?" Lukas looked up, didn't understand a thing.

"Well, there's an island not far away from here, named Formentera. It's quieter than Ibiza, means sans party, and the view is nice. I wonder whether you'd like to go there. We can sleep there tonight and stay there almost all day tomorrow before getting back here in the evening so we can catch our flights the next day."

"Oh." Seems like Bastian had everything planned after all despite his sleep-in three-forth of the day. "Anything you like, Basti." It's good that he didn't ask Lukas to do the planning, it's quite obvious from the start between the two of them who the responsible one was, definitely not Lukas.

"Okay, can you go and tell Roberto our plan, please?" The blonde smiled sweetly and Lukas' heart immediately thumped faster in his chest. He nodded and swiftly got out of the cabin.

He found Roberto in the wheelhouse and informed him about their plan. When he got back, Bastian had finished his meal and was playing his iPhone.

"More coffee?" The Pole offered. He's about to snatch Bastian's mug when the blonde caught his wrist.

"No, I'm good, thanks." He shot Lukas a sweet smile again and got up. "Let's go downstairs."

"Why?" Downstairs? To their room? Why? The sun was up and the weather was nice, what a time to be up imbibing the Balearic Islands.

Bastian could read his mind. "Umm, I think I might have to make up to you for last night," he murmured, broke their eye contact, his cheeks flushed a bit. Lukas' heart went ta-da-dump once again.

"Made up for what?" Even when he asked the question, something fluttered in his underbelly.

"Oh, since you seem to forget it already, maybe we should just opt for sunbathing-"

"No way, baby," cutting him off, Lukas grabbed Bastian's wrist with his other hand and pulled him close until their chests touched. Their breaths smelled of coffee and their skins of the lemongrass soap. The Pole looked into Bastian's eyes, his own eyes twinkled mischievously while the blonde only took a glance at him then quickly averted his eyes away again. He remembered it now, Bastian said they would 'get back to his fantasy when the night comes'. But last night, or this morning actually, was a mess, so they didn't have time to delve into Lukas' fantasy yet. They could wait until tonight actually but that wasn't actually his place to say. If Bastian was willing to offer it now, how could he be so heartless as to turn him down?

"So, umm...downstairs?" The Bavarian asked sheepishly.

"You bet, baby," the Pole answered and kissed him.


	7. Chapter 7

"Basti,"

Lukas lay panting helplessly. He pulled his head up to look down at the blonde once but could restrain the pull of lust for only a couple of seconds before his head was thrown back on the pillow again. Bastian's mouth was too hot when it swallowed his full-length erection whole. And when the Bavarian deep-throated him, Lukas swore he could see stars. "Fuck!" His hips bucked up of their own accord. Where did Bastian learn to do that?! The Pole's afraid to ask by fear that the answer would be from fucking with him.

Actually, is that a thing to fear?

Bastian pulled his mouth away for a bit and licked the pre-cum off Lukas' cock before dragging his tongue down the length. The Pole gasped, his hand reached for the blonde's head, grasped his short hair and almost yanked him down in need of the warmth of his mouth again. Bastian snickered and indulged him, he sucked the head of Lukas’ cock hard before taking it all in. Lukas bit his lower lip and halted all the moans as the blonde slowly and torturingly sucked him up from the base, his tongue flicked tantalizingly against the underside of his cock all the way up until he reached the head again.

Lukas felt like his soul was almost sucked out of his body with it.

"Shit, Schweini!" He wasn't sure how long he would last with Bastian's outrageous level of oral skill. He grabbed the Bavarian's nape once the other boy pulled his mouth from Lukas' cock with a 'pop' sound and hauled him to crush their lips together. Bastian gasped because he hadn't had a chance to breathe properly and now the Pole was also blocking all the air. Reaching down to Lukas' cock, the blonde squeezed it hard sending him gasp, he smirked and breathed in deeply.

"You could have just told me nicely if you want some air, you know?" Lukas panted against Bastian's lips, his voice hoarse. The Bavarian chuckled.

"What's the fun in that?" He kissed the corner of Lukas' lips down the jaw line to his neck, hand stroking Lukas' cock. The Pole moaned aloud then his hand shot to catch Bastian's wrist.

"Shit, Basti, I'm gonna come," he grunted, panting heavily. Bastian's about to retaliate that that's the whole point but as his eyes caught Lukas', he understood.

"Okay." The blonde turned around to find the lube, got it and unhurriedly applied the cool gel on Lukas' cock. The Pole's breath hitched and his hips bucked up again fucking Bastian's hand. The Bavarian smirked and squeezed Lukas' cock as a punishment sending the Pole scream, "No! Fuck! Basti! Don't!" afraid that he'd come on the spot. The sight mightn't be so graceful.

Then Bastian stopped dawdling and shifted until his ass was above the Pole's cock which all the time his hand never released. Lukas held his breath in anticipation, hands tightened on Bastian's upper-arms. Then when he thought the Bavarian would eventually shove his cock up his tight ass, he lowered his butt and slid Lukas' cock in between his butt cheeks snugly.

Are you actually fucking kidding me?

Lukas gasped as Bastian moved his butt up and down the length, hand braced Lukas' erection against the crevice so that all sides of it could feel the torturous friction. The blonde gasped as the underside of the cock's head scratched the pucker of his hole, and though the friction was oily enough, Lukas felt like his cock was burning.

"Is it good?" Bastian asked, his body arched, his butt protruding as he twisted around to look at their activity, his cheeks flushed and from his heaving chest, Lukas realized this impassioned foreplay was affecting him real hard, too. The Pole grunted and grabbed Bastian's cock without warning and the blonde yelped in surprise, he stroked the cock in the same rhythm as Bastian's moving with his ass now, which was faster and faster. Lukas squeezed it hard and Bastian gasped, his free hand shot to catch the Pole's wrist as fast as a snake bite, "fuck! Luki!"

Lukas would stand this no more, of course. He pushed the Bavarian down on his back and thrust into him unceremoniously. Bastian gasped shocked as well as Lukas who hadn't expected the path to be this fucking hot and so cramped tight. The blonde grabbed Lukas' arms and dug his nails in hard, his lips pursed, his eyes squeezed shut and that's how he knew he'd hurt Bastian.

"Shit, Basti, I'm sorry." He restraint though he's practically inside the other for more than half of his length already. The Bavarian took in a deep breath then nodded, and he slowly thrust in further until he's whole inside Bastian. "Fuck," he slumped down on the other. He knew he wouldn't last long because he's on the verge already by only thrusting in once. The blonde kissed his cheek, his hands slid up the Pole's biceps to catch his face, turning it a bit so that he could kiss Lukas on the lips.

"Will you move in the next century or so, asshole?" he teased against the Pole's mouth.

Lukas laughed, he pecked Bastian on the lips once again lovingly. "Well, to be honest, your foreplay got me good and I don't think I would last that long," he confessed, gliding his lips down the blonde's cheek to his ear. "You're not gonna be mad at me if I come within two minutes, are you?"

Bastian laughed. "Am I that good?" His hands trailed down to cup Lukas' butt and pulled him in further, his legs parted wider at the same time and the Pole gasped. Bastian dragged his lips down to a spot under Lukas' ear and his seductive voice said, "I'm not gonna tell anyone especially Thomas, promise. Come on, Luki, fuck me."

Lukas hadn't lasted even a minute, though.

***

Lukas stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist to find Bastian walking around the room in broad shorts. His skin was still very pale though they’d been the direct recipient of Spanish sunlight for two days in a row. On the contrary, Lukas' skin was reddened now, he'd get tanner by the end of this trip.

Bastian straightened up from ransacking for something in a drawer and something on his chest caught the afternoon sunlight from the window that Lukas had to narrow his eyes to look at it twice. The blonde's wearing a necklace with a pendant that scintillated when its particular angle caught the light.

Lukas squinted, the pendant was a tiny sapphire-color stone of the size smaller than a popcorn. He wasn't sure whether he'd seen Bastian wearing this necklace before since he's not that of an observant person and Bastian sure had a lot of accessories, but his one was nice.

"Nice necklace," so he complimented. The Bavarian looked up at him, then at his necklace, then up at Lukas again.

"Of course it is." He smiled.

They got up to the deck and realized that they'd already arrived at Formentera. They decided that they'd laze away on the deck until dusk and might get into town for a non-fancy dinner later. The sun was high in the sky and as Bastian lay down in his deck chair, the pendant on the blonde's neck caught Lukas' eyes again.

He swore the stone was a sapphire color before, but now it's turquoise, like the color of the sea of Formentera in front of them now. Lukas stared at it, felt like he'd just been deceived. With Bastian's pale skin as the background, he didn't think his eyes could be tricked that much, or was it because the cabin below was too dim that his eyes couldn't catch the correct color of it?

No, the cabin wasn't dim at all.

"Schweini, what's the color of your pendant?" Lukas asked out of curiosity. Bastian turned around, a bit confused. He looked down.

"Well, now it's turquoise, I guess," he answered.

"What do you mean by 'now'? What's the color of it before?"

Bastian quirked his brow. "What, Luki? Why are you talking like you've never seen it before?" Lukas stiffened. The Bavarian caught the stone, held it up to the sunlight and turned it around. To his astonishment, the light hit other angles of the stone and its colors changed before his eyes: first to deep blue like the color of the clear Balearics sky, then a brighter shade of Azure like the color of Lukas' eyes, as he stared at it while the blonde kept turning it, it turned again to an olive color, like Bastian's eyes this time, finally it settled to emerald, another shade of the Mediterranean Sea.

Lukas' jaw dropped.

"Luki," Bastian looked at him, concerned. "Are you alright? Why are you so surprised? You're the one who bought it for me."

The Pole shut his mouth. He bought that necklace for Bastian? Well, he didn't know that! If that's so, he sure had a really good taste. It's very beautiful. He wondered how much it was, anyway. "Do you like it?" He asked the blonde.

"Of course!" Bastian still looked at him suspiciously and Lukas' heart beat fast, he wondered what he said wrong this time. "I like it, of course. Otherwise I wouldn't have asked you to buy it for me," he answered slowly. Okay, so Bastian was the one who chose it then.

"Right," Lukas said, turning his gaze away to stare at the cloudless sky like to end the conversation. They were silent for a time then Bastian spoke up.

"Poldi, are you alright? You acted like you don't remember the necklace you bought me for my birthday just a couple of days ago. Actually, come to think of it, you acted really strange lately," he paused, "you didn't hit your head in the bathroom or something, did you?"

Lukas laughed loudly. "No, of course not!" He reached out to catch Bastian's hand and squeezed it. "If you ask me, I would say those alcohols you put into me during the past couple of days are taking a toll on me, I'm not used to them like you. Maybe they're taking effect on my brain," he fibbed, and though the Bavarian's still skeptical, he seemed to buy it.

"A tenable excuse for not drinking tonight, huh?" Bastian quirked up his brow like to look through the Pole's made-up alibi. Lukas grinned.

"Let's say I'm glad you suggested Formentera for tonight and call it a day."

***

Bastian dozed off in his chair under the sun. Lukas didn't understand how he could sleep again since he'd just woken up less than three hours ago. All those partying three nights in a row must have taken a toll on him. The ambience was too peaceful around here, he could only hear the sounds of waves washing ashore as well as the winds shaking the sails.

Lukas fished his iPhone out, thinking about resuming his research from the early afternoon. He opened up Safari app and typed in the search box what he had in mind: _'Schweinski'_.

The headline of the first articles appeared on the screen read, _'Sernando and Schweinski In Ibiza: The Two Footballer Couples Up All Night For Schweinsteiger's Non-Stop Birthday Party'_. He scrolled past those as well as their images, looking for articles that might be able to educate him their history, past shitload of fanfictions and fuckton of tumblr blogs. He hit some of the links which seemed interesting but mostly they contained their pictures. After ten minutes, he still couldn't find anything.

The Pole put his phone down and stared at the turquoise sea in front of him. If he couldn't find worthwhile articles with the pairing name, maybe he should just try Wikipedia.

Lukas typed his name in the search box, hit the Wikipedia website when it came up and chose the part about his personal life.

It took only a couple of minutes before he put his phone down again. What he learned in those minutes were that Bastian and he got together in 2010 after the World Cup in South Africa. He'd had Louis by then but he'd never come around to marry the woman who's the mother of his only child.

Monika and he had never married in this reality.

Well, Lukas thought as the waves kept washing ashore, the winds shaking the sails and the world kept spinning, this is quite fucked up, isn't it?

***

They went into town for dinner - a local and very simple meal - then came back to the yacht without alcohols in their veins for the first night of the trip. It's also the first night that Lukas had a chance to sleep before midnight, though this was quite in contradiction to the Spanish general way of life.

That night as his mind drowned in lethargy, all that he's afraid of wasn't which reality he would wake up to tomorrow anymore, but how he would cope when the real reality actually hit him, when he had to fly out of this paradise island back to Germany.

The next day, Lukas woke up early to the sight of Bastian snuggling up against his side still. He kissed the blonde's forehead softly before getting up. Their routine was the same as another day, they had breakfast and coffee in the morning before getting down into the sea. They swam and rode jet skis along the beaches and coasts of Formentera, the Spanish sun shone bright sparkling the Mediterranean Sea in fifty shades of blue. He didn't forget to call Louis today. At the end of the day, both were exhausted and as Roberto drove the yacht back to Ibiza, Lukas sat on the gunwale with legs dangling, watching the sunset. Bastian sat beside him, in the tranquility of the sea with only the sounds of seagulls squawking far away and the yacht hitting water creating perennial waves as it made way to their destination, the blonde laid his head on the Pole's shoulder. They sat like that for the rest of the journey, until seagulls had gone back to their nests and the sun was long swallowed down the dark windless sea.

They had sex that night, and though Lukas knew it's not a forever separation, he knew it's still a long kiss goodbye. He didn't know when they'd ever meet again, that depended on their busy schedules, maybe even as far as the next international call-up. After two rounds, Bastian was fast asleep and although the Pole was also very exhausted, he couldn't force his eyes to close and his mind to slumber. He'd stared at the ceiling of their cabin for a very long time until his brain shut down on its own some time in the middle of the breaking dawn.

***

"Ready?"

Bastian's in a white shirt and grey open cardigan with shorts, he's wearing a fedora and sunglasses, too, at the ready. Lukas took in a deep breath, he found his print-out online ticket to Cologne in his bag, the flight was at half past two with a stop at Berlin, there's no direct flight from here to Cologne.

Meanwhile, Bastian would take a flight to Amsterdam and then to Portland, Oregon. Apparently, Bayern Munich would have a game with MLS All-stars there tomorrow and he needed to get there before it started.

"Yeah, I'm ready," Lukas answered though he didn't feel like that at all. Bastian looked at him, his trained eyes might see something off on the Pole's countenance but he didn't comment on it. He grabbed his Louis Vuitton duffle bag and put it over his shoulder, Lukas did the same.

"Let's go." The Bavarian held out his hand and Lukas realized he really needed it as he caught the proffered hand and held it like his life depended on it. Bastian quirked up his brow. "Your hand's cold, Luki."

As well as his feet, Lukas retorted in his mind.

They bid everyone on the yacht goodbye, especially Roberto, found something to eat for lunch around the marina before taking a cab to the airport.

Lukas’ plane boarded before Bastian’s and when they had to part to their gates, the Pole hugged Bastian so tight like he never wanted him to ever slip away.

As his plane took off, Lukas looked down at the Balearics Islands below, at their verdant hillsides and golden beaches, at the white dots of yachts and jet skis with trails of foam in their wakes on the twinkling cobalt sea under the sun. Lukas realized that he's gonna miss this, this stunning gem in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, the party capital of Europe, the island that never slept. He'd never come here before in his life but he’d fell head over heels for it already, not only because of its beauty, but also, mostly, because his memory of it was full of Bastian.


	8. Chapter 8

Cologne was basking in twilight when Lukas arrived at the airport at 8 p.m. He took a cab to his home. As the cab parked in front of his house after half an hour, Lukas got down and was paying the driver when the front door of the house burst open and a being with blond hair dashed to him.

"Dad!" Louis sprinted over, got hold of his waist and squeezed tightly even before the Pole could compose.

"Hey, buddy." Lukas hauled him up off the floor delightedly. "You heard me arrive?"

"I heard a car parked and I know it's gotta be you, dad." Louis hugged his neck, Lukas kissed him on the cheek. God, he missed his son so much.

"How's your mommy?"

"She's good." Louis grinned showing his pink gum.

Lukas carried Louis into the house, Monika descended the stairs. "Are you hungry?" She asked.

"A bit, yeah." He put his son down in the living room.

"I'll warm the stew then." And she disappeared into the kitchen.

"How are you doing today, mate?" He asked his son as fumbling inside the duffle bag for a souvenir he bought for Louis: a color truck with an Ibiza wall lizard on its roof and a Spanish flag painted on the side. He also bought herbal soaps and facial scrubs for Monika.

"Cool," Louis caught a rubber ball from the floor and juggled it in his hands. "We went to grandma's house today and had Gołąbki."

"You did?"

"Yes, and I helped grandma and mommy put pork in the cabbages."

"You did that?"

"Yeah, I think we left some for you, too. You can eat them later."

His stomach grumbled at the mention of food and at that moment Monika called out of the kitchen that the stew was ready.

Giving the truck to Louis who looked at it weirdly though happy nonetheless, he walked to the kitchen and handed the soap and scrubs to Monika. "Your souvenirs," he said.

She turned around. "Oh," and looked at stuff in Lukas' hands in surprise. "There's no need, Lukas."

"Nah, take them. I bought them for you." And he leaned in for a kiss on the lips out of habit.

Monika immediately dodged.

"What are you doing?" Monika's voice was rigid and Lukas blinked, dumbfounded. Then he realized that they weren't a couple anymore, they'd divorced. No, they didn't, they'd never been married in the first place, actually.

He felt his cheeks heat up suddenly. "Err, sorry." He didn't dare looking at Monika who’s staring at him like she'd just seen a ghost. Louis who followed him in was rooted to the spot, looking between Monika and him like waiting for a grenade to explode. He found it's necessary to distract everyone's attention now. "So, dinner, anyone?"

Monika didn't say anything and Louis was silent, too. Lukas sat at the dining table, eating Bigos stew with breads. Monika went out of the kitchen and Louis climbed up on a chair opposite him, standing on it with elbows on the table, watching him eat.

"What time will you pick me up tomorrow?" Louis asked. Lukas quirked up his brow, didn't understand a thing.

"Pick you up? To where?"

Louis stared at him in disbelief, his shocked expression almost couldn't conceal the acute disappointment underneath which he's desperately trying to hide and it made Lukas' heart wrench. Fuck, he didn't mean that.

"Dad!" Louis averted his eyes to the table, trying to steady his voice and Lukas' heart skipped a beat. "But you promised!"

"Louis, I don't forget it," I fucking didn't know it, "I have all day tomorrow for only you so you can tell me when and where you wanna go. I'm, Lukas Podolski, at your service, boss." He saluted his son.

The disappointment on Louis' face vanished, he smiled but still looking at him oddly. Lukas didn't dare making eye contact with his son so he just concentrated on his plate and ate as fast as possible. A tiny hand reached out to snatch a carrot from his stew. Lukas looked up in time for Louis to pop the carrot in his mouth. Lukas smiled.

"Louis Gabriel Podolski, get down from the table and have some manners, it's rude to steal people's food from their plates," Monika scolded as she walked into the room again. Louis pouted and looked at Lukas but complying with his mother's order anyway. Lukas winked at him clandestinely and Louis smiled.

Having finished the meal eventually, Lukas got up to put the plate in the sink. He’d just turned on the tap when Monika shooed him away. "No need to do that, Lukas." She replaced his position in front of the sink. Lukas didn't say anything and walked out to where he left his luggage in the living room. Louis followed him.

"So, who wants to help me unpack?" He put his bag across his shoulder and asked Louis. His son was baffled.

"Here?" He asked.

"Up in my room, of course," Lukas answered.

"You room?" Louis looked even more bewildered and Lukas was rooted to the spot. He stared at Louis and vice versa. Fuck, he totally forgot again that he's not with Monika anymore. So if Monika lives here, where the fuck does he live?!

Monika chose that moment to come out of the kitchen. "Oh, are you leaving?" She wiped her hands on a towel. "Have you called a cab yet?"

"Uhh," he still looked at Louis, "no."

"Then call it first," she said dismissively. "I'm gonna go upstairs now, I'm tired. What time are you gonna pick Louis up tomorrow?"

Lukas averted his eyes to her. "What time should I?" He opted for the safest option. Monika rolled her eyes.

"He's gotta be at the pitch by two. And don't be late. You can talk to him, I'm okay with whatever. I'll see you later." And she went upstairs.

Lukas fished out his iPhone and browsed through contact list finding the taxi office number. He had one stored in his phone in the other reality so he hoped this one had, too. He found it, with relief, and called, he told the other end his current address and for the lack of better ideas, told his parents' address as the destination.

All the while, Louis kept looking at him.

He hung up the phone and turned to Louis. "So," he started, "I'll pick you up at eleven tomorrow. Is that alright? We can have lunch before going to the pitch. What do you think?"

Louis nodded silently, still looking at him like he'd grown another head. Lukas sat down in a sofa and closed his eyes. He's so tired and it's very late now, it's ten o'clock already and Louis should be in bed by now, actually. He opened his eyes.

To find Louis standing directly in front of him, their faces only a scant foot apart, Lukas startled. "Fuck, Louis." And he realized he shouldn't swear in front of his son so he quickly said, "What are you doing? You almost heart-attacked me."

Louis kept looking at him and it freaked Lukas out. "Hey, buddy, what's got into you? Are you alright?"

"You look like my father," said Louis, slowly, "but you're not him."

Lukas was stunned, his heart beat real fast. He looked at his son, his hands cold, and he knew Louis knew, no matter how that could be. Every other adult would assume that he had had too many drinks or hit his head on the floor or just that old until he had amnesia or something, but no one would say that he's not the real Lukas Podolski. That's just simply impossible, isn't it?

But not someone as young and clever as Louis, with only an hour in his presence, Louis could actually tell that he's Lukas, but then again, he's not Lukas.

They stared at each other like they're in a contest. Lukas' heart drummed in his chest when Louis asked out of pure curiosity,

"Who are you?"

***

Bastian hurried along the parking building to the main tower. He's in a black suit with a blue bow tie. The time was five past seven in the evening and he's late now. Arriving in front of a row of elevators, the Bavarian punched an up button. It's not long before an elevator descended to pick him up to Restaurant 181, located 600 feet above the ground.

He didn't understand why Lukas had to pick an expensive restaurant for their supposedly casual dinner, and a Michelin-starred one at that. He had objected when Lukas told him the time and place for them to meet but the Pole had none of it. He insisted that he'd already booked a table for two, which was quite a task, he added, and ordered course meals for them both, so don’t Bastian dare calling it off.

Christ, he didn't even know Lukas was into haute cuisine and he also didn't understand why Lukas felt the need to impress him with something like this. They're friends for ten years after all and whatever Lukas wanted out of this unconventional meeting was sure could also be discussed in a corner of a McDonald's or over a pint of beer at his home. With all these formal dresses, gourmet restaurants and fine expensive wines, it's like they're on a date.

The idea made Bastian blush. Heck, they're friends, how could it even come up in his head that it looks like Lukas is trying to...court him or something?

A 'ping' sound announced that the elevator had arrived at an indicated floor. Bastian took in a deep breath and stepped out, he also didn't understand why he had to be nervous about all this. He informed the maître d'hôtel Lukas' name and was led to the table.

Lukas was already there.

"Hey," the Pole greeted and Bastian smiled back very wide. The maître d' pulled the chair out for him and Bastian sat down. The restaurant was small, contained only around ten tables for the gimmick of it was that every table could savour the panoramic view of Munich from 600-feet height without any hindrance. Bastian looked out and found that the sun's still up illuminating the cluster of concretes below with languid orange rays like it's already exhausted from radiating all day long.

The blonde turned around in time for a sommelier to present the wine list. Lukas discussed with the wine steward and Bastian was surprised because as far as he knew, Lukas didn't drink any alcohols, whatever kind.

"I don't know you drink," he spoke his mind after the Pole had ordered a carafe of Pinot Gris. Lukas' cheeks turned pink.

"Well, it isn't worth the effort if we blatantly deny the wine which supposedly complements the cuisine. And I know you'd prefer them with the food anyway."

Bastian looked at him oddly. 'Worth the effort'? What effort? "What do you want to talk to me about today anyway?" He asked out of curiosity. There's something strange going on. All these superfluous decorum was so out of Lukas' character. He didn't understand a thing but he made up his mind to find out about that tonight.

To his surprise, Lukas blushed again, but he kept their eye contact and the impish audacity in those bright blue eyes actually made Bastian fluster. "It's a surprise." And he winked.

The blonde's heart skipped a beat and he couldn't breathe properly. Bastian crossed his arms over his chest and sat back in his chair, trying his best to placate his shaky breaths and racing heart. "What is this all about, Luki?" He asked, confused.

The sommelier was back with a bottle of Pinot Gris. He poured the white wine for both of them to taste. Lukas didn't taste his but looking at Bastian waiting for comments. The Bavarian swirled his glass in a circle, closed his eyes and sipped it. The wine's cool, light-bodied and spritzy. He nodded to the sommelier and was poured half of the glass, as well as Lukas'.

Starters arrived, Scottish smoked salmon tartar, and they ate with the white wine. When main courses arrived, the wine had to be changed to another carafe of Barbera d'Alba from Piedmont. Bastian didn't ask about the 'surprise' again, he's afraid of the answer. Instead, they talked about their little vacations: Bastian of Ibiza, and Lukas of Southern Turkey with his family, which, to the Bavarian's astonishment once again, Lukas didn't seem to want to talk about it, not even when Bastian asked about Louis whom normally Lukas would prattle about on and on.

But there were so many weird things happening tonight already, he'd just have to add this one to the list.

They finished desserts: chocolate fondant. The twilight sky outside was seguing from the mix of orange and red into a breathtaking kind of ruby color while below, overshadowed buildings had turned on artificial lights to illuminate the dark side of the world. Bastian was swirling his wine in a circle when Lukas put something on the table.

It's a small plain pine-green box. The blonde looked at it. "What's it?" He asked.

Lukas smiled and held up his glass of wine. "Your present, of course." He looked Bastian in the eyes and the blonde's breath hitched, once again. Lukas had never looked at him this intense before, his eyes had never conveyed something akin to...desire, like this. The Pole had never been serious with him, had never talked to him like he's talking now. Normally, with him, they'd joke around and make light of everyone as well as one another. But this wasn't a joke, it couldn't be, the twinkles in his eyes were always mischievous, not passionate like they could burn him alive like right now.

"Happy belated birthday, baby," Lukas said softly. His birthday? August the 1st? But that was four days ago and they'd never really celebrated the day together, particularly not with three fancy course meals and fine expensive wines at a posh Michelin-starred restaurant with breathtaking panoramic view 600 feet above the ground from the top of a tower for sure. And the present? What is this all about?!

As Bastian looked into the Pole's clear blue eyes in search of a reasonable meaning behind all of this, it scared him to his marrow because he realized he could see a million star lights in there.


	9. Chapter 9

His parents had never let him down.

Lukas found out that he had a bedroom in his parents' house, for when he came to visit his family in Cologne he could sleep over. Normally he lived in London, of course, in this reality he's also an Arsenal player, and Lukas was relieved for that.

He tucked in for the night, he's tired but everything that had just happened in the past hours kept spinning in his head, especially what Louis had said. He didn't know how to answer his son's question. ‘Who are you?’ Louis had asked. Could he say, ‘hello, I’m Lukas Podolski from another universe who’s also your dad but there, I’m not with Bastian but I was married to your mom, Monika, nice to meet you’?

Lukas' heart sank. No, he couldn't simply say that to Louis, that's just too cruel. How could he tell Louis that from where he's from, their family was still together? From where he came from, he didn't fall in love with Bastian and they didn't have a relationship with each other.

Did he?

Morning broke before he knew it. Lukas went down to help his parents prepare breakfast and they ate breakfast together for the first time in Lukas didn't even know how long. They had cold cuts, smoked sausages, cheeses, pickles and hard-boiled eggs with breads, and, of course, the leftover Gołąbki from their yesterday’s lunch. His parents acted like this was the most normal thing for them to do in a summer morning when Lukas was home for the holidays and he found that intriguing.

His father gave Lukas the car key after breakfast since they knew he had to pick Louis up for a game. As the Pole drove along the streets to his house - well, Monika's house now, actually - he wondered how he would deal with his son.

He parked the car in front of the house and got down to the door. Monika got it and let him in, Louis was tying his shoelace in the hallway, he's in a school football kit.

"Ready, buddy?" He asked, heart pounding in his chest. Louis looked up.

"Yeah." He stood up and eyed Lukas cautiously which caused his heart to beat faster.

They got in the car and Lukas asked, "What do you wanna have for lunch, son?" He emphasized the last word.

"Anything," Louis fastened his seatbelt dawdlingly then turned to look at him, wariness in his also-bright blue eyes and Lukas felt extremely guilty as well as deeply bitter for making his son distrust him. "Are you gonna tell me who you are?" His tone's suspicious. Last night, what Lukas had answered the boy was that he would explain everything to him tomorrow when they're alone together. They couldn't talk about this with Monika in the proximity. Monika couldn't know this, no one could know this, nor his parents, not even Bastian, this would be the secret between the two of them.

His seven-year-old son would be the one who knew the secret that he's from another universe because he's the only one who realized that he's not the real Lukas Podolski. Well, who could blame his intelligence? He is his son after all.

"I'll tell you when we're having lunch. Is that alright?"

They arrived at a restaurant. Louis was silent most of the times and only fidgeted with his fingers. Lukas ordered Kartoffelpuffer which he knew Louis liked in the other universe, and since Louis didn't object, he assumed that he liked it here, too. Well, every kid likes Kartoffelpuffer, actually. He ordered Wurst for himself.

"Okay," he said when the waiter had gone. They're sitting in a corner of the room away from other diners' attention, like he always did because he never liked anyone to recognize him when he's with family, sometimes public figures preferred privacy, and this time he needed it more than most. "What do you want to know?" He asked cautiously.

"So you're not my dad?" Louis asked carefully, fidgeting in his seat.

"I am your dad, Louis Gabriel Podolski," he answered slowly.

"But you're also not my dad." His eyes strayed to the table like he wasn't sure this was a clever idea at all and he didn't want to look at Lukas when he said this but he still had to, "you look like him just by your looks but your mind isn't him. My real dad would never forget to call me two days in a row even if he's with Schweini, my real dad would never ask to sleep over in our house." His usually-clear blue eyes turned dull a bit at that and Lukas' heart sank to his feet. But then Louis asked, "Where is my real dad?" His tone was rigid. He's scared, Lukas knew by the looks though his son was trying his best to hide it.

"I am your biological dad, Louis. You needn't be scared of me." He looked at his son and Louis looked up, skepticism still avid in his eyes and Lukas felt his heart break a bit inside. "I just don't know what's actually going on here because apparently one day, well, a couple of days ago, I woke up and found-" he paused, he's about to say that he woke up and found Bastian in his bed but that's not really a thing that should be said to kids, Louis wouldn't need the details. "-that I woke up to a different reality," he finished his sentence and looked at Louis who's staring at him shockedly like he's insane. Maybe he was, the idea of alternate reality had popped up in his mind a few days ago and he opted for it because it’s easier to explain than most of his other ideas, be it a dream under a dream or whatever.

Well, if he thought this one was the simplest, he might actually have just gone nuts.

They were silent for a moment and Lukas thought Louis didn't understand what he'd said, he didn't even understand it himself so he couldn't think why a seven-year-old boy would find it comprehensible.

But then Louis spoke up, "you mean you're my dad, but not in this...world? You mean you have another me in your reality?" He asked disbelievingly yet clearly and Lukas found his heart drumming real fast. Fuck, Louis understands! How the fuck he could understand this out-of-this-world insanity, Lukas had no idea. He felt intrigued by his son's cleverness even more as well as relieved that finally he could take this shit out of his shoulders by talking to someone about it even that someone was a seven-year-old.

"You're too smart for your own good. Do you know that, mate?" He smirked.

"Can that really happen?" Louis, still captivated by the idea, whispered incredulously.

"It just happened to me." Lukas shrugged.

"And where's my dad? My real dad, I mean." He looked into Lukas' eyes, he sounded so apprehensive that Lukas felt sorry for him.

"I'm sorry, Louis, but I really don't know," he answered, he'd never thought about it before. "Maybe we have switched realities and he's in my reality now." And coped with the cold-hard truth that he and Bastian weren't lovers but instead he's married to Monika. He wondered what his other self would think about that and how he would deal with it.

A horror-stricken idea struck him, would his other self try to change the reality? If it were him, well, it's practically him anyway, would he do anything to adjust the situation to his likings, considering that they didn't know how long they would be stuck in each other's universe?

The Pole's heart raced. Fuck, what if he makes a move on Bastian and divorces Monika? What if Bastian and he fall in love like it's happening here? Which was likely to happen considering that they have been flirting for ten years though he didn't know before that what has been hanging heavy in the air between them is sexual tension, but he knows it now.

If that actually happened, would it be for the better since he and Monika had long-lost their love anyway?

Fuck, why does he think something like that? What about Louis? What would happen to him? Wouldn't their divorce break him? Louis, his only son, the only anchor of his life, the reason that he married to Monika in the first place, Louis who's sitting opposite him and was staring at him alarmedly now.

"I need your help, buddy," Lukas said slowly, "but you have to keep this a secret between us. You can't tell your mom nor anyone about this, do you understand? I need you to help me to get through this because there are so many things in this reality that I do not know. And together we'll find a way to get me back to my reality." He took in a deep breath. "And to bring your real dad back here. Will you help me, Louis?"

His son nodded so hard without even thinking about it.

***

The match started at 2.30 p.m.

Lukas sat on the bleachers to support his son in a forward position as the match between two schools played out. The sun shone bright and weather was warm, a perfect summer day in Germany indeed. He's looking at Louis and thinking that he could also play midfield with that tackle skill when his phone rang.

He fished it out, to find Bastian's name flashing on the screen. The Pole smiled.

"Hey, babe," he greeted, "where are you?"

"Hey," Bastian from the other end of the line said, his voice was sweet and Lukas immediately missed having the blonde in his arms while the other panted that sweetest voice in his ear. The Pole had the grace to blush. "It's 6 a.m. in Portland but I'm wide awake," Bastian complained. "Are you at the pitch?"

"Umm, yeah." Well, he's at a pitch, though he wasn't certain what pitch Bastian was referring to.

"How's Louis doing?" The Bavarian asked, so they're talking about the same pitch after all. Seems like everyone knows about his son's match today, everyone except him.

"Umm, good." He didn't know what to say to that, his son definitely wasn't ecstatic but looked energetic enough on the pitch right now.

"What did you have for lunch?"

They talked about everything and were on the phone until the referee blew for half-time. "Hey, it's half-time. I've gotta go," he said as seeing other parents flew down to the sidelines for their kids.

"Okay, talk to you later," Bastian said.

"Talk to you later, Basti." And he hung up.

He’d gone down to Louis, to tell him that he did really great as well as advising tricks before his son was called to receive the second-half strategy. As he got up to the bleachers, his phone rang again, this time it's from his agent.

"Hello," Lukas spoke to the receiver, his heart raced in fear that he'd forgot to do something. Well, he didn't know what he had to do in the first place so to say that he forgot was quite unfair.

"Hey, there, mate. You arrived safely in Cologne?" The other end asked.

"Yeah," Lukas' eyes were on Louis as the game started.

"Everyone wants to know when you'll be back in London," he stated. "The training session has started."

Lukas looked at his son as the boy caught the ball and ran forward, looking for space to shoot or teammates to pass the ball to. "A couple of days more, I need to be with Louis." He couldn't leave now, of course, not when everything was a mess like this. At least he needed to clear things up with his son.

"Today is Wednesday. Would it be possible to be back in London by Saturday?" His agent asked.

"Monday," Lukas negotiated.

"Monday morning, that's the farthest I can give. Mostly everybody was back from holidays now except you all Germans."

"I'll take Monday morning."

"Okay, I'll book a flight and tell you later." And he hung up.

Lukas stared at the pitch but didn't see anything now, his mind's reeling hard. He needed to figure a way out of this universe and to think of something before Monday seemed highly improbable, he had no fucking idea whatsoever now. He guessed he'd be stuck here for a while and he's surprised enough already by the advent of Bastian in his bed on the first day, the fact that they were lovers and that he and Monika had never married. What new things about him and this world would he discover when he gets to London? The fact that everybody seemed fine with the idea of two footballers romantically kissing one another in public shook his world to the core. Lukas quirked his brow, aside from he and Bastian, and Torres and Ramos, who else had this world affected on so that their two realities weren't the same?

The Pole opened up Safari on his phone and googled the history of homosexuality in football. Yes, he used that word. What he found out fifteen minutes later turn his world upside down this time.

Not only in football, but also in all industries and quarters, homosexuals were acceptable. He found out about Gerlonso, Fabrique, Simi, Larry Stylinson, Jewnicorn (who the fuck named this couple?!), and on and on. Lukas was shocked when he found out that Gerlonso went as far as getting married and was having a surrogate carrying their first biological child. Apparently, science in this reality was so advanced that biological child between people of the same sex was possible. And people speculated that their child would look exactly like Alberto Moreno.

A BIOLOGICAL child between two people of the same sex.

Lukas' jaw dropped. This is insane. Really, really insane! He thought of Bastian and wondered whether they had ever discussed about having their own biological child...

His mind snapped to Louis as the end-game whistle blew and both team tied by the score of 1-1. Louis didn’t score, though. His eyes trained on Louis as he disappeared into the changing room while chatting excitedly with his friends. The idea of having kids with Bastian might sound daunting but at the same time mind-blowing, but he already had Louis, and creating an evidence of their love with another life seemed like betrayal somehow.

Lukas sat absorbing in his thought for a long moment until his son's voice snapped him out of it, "dad, let's go."

Lukas looked up and smiled widely. Louis looked fresh after an exertion and a shower, his blue eyes shone bright happily, his blond hair looked even sparkling under the afternoon summer sun and his pink gum as he smiled was like he had all the joy in the world packed in him. At that split second, Lukas did wonder what his and Bastian's kid would really look like...

Before he swiftly shoved that preposterous idea away.

"Yeah, let's go," he answered.


	10. Chapter 10

"What is it like in that reality?"

They're walking along the bank of the Rhine River, absorbing the last rays of the sun as it set behind the Dom, the landmark of Cologne. Lukas knew this question would come sooner rather than later yet he still hadn't prepared any answer for it. Surely he couldn't tell his son the whole truth.

"Different." He ruffled his son's blond hair. "But I also have you there, of course."

"Do we live together there?" Louis asked and Lukas' breath caught in his lung. The seven-year-old's voice was wistful that it broke his heart inside.

"I also work in London there," was all Lukas could say, "So you stay here with your mom and we visit each other during holidays and every time I have time."

"What am I like there?" He asked curiously.

"Not that much different from you here, I guess, but not as smart, of course." Lukas laughed.

"Am I better at football there than here?" He sounded apprehensive.

"I think you're quite on the same level when it comes to that quarter." He noticed Louis surreptitiously exhale in relief.

They paused at one point near Hohenzollern Bridge to watch the sunset across the Rhine River. Lukas looked at the orange-hued twilight sky as the sun sank below the horizon, white clouds like cotton daubed the otherwise clear sky. He looked at Cologne Cathedral as it slowly lose its greyish brown color and turned into a dark silhouette with two spikes surging towards the darkening sky, the arch bridge as its meticulous metal pattern turned dim, then at the Rhine River as the rippling dark water surface reflected the last coral beams of the sun. He smelled fresh water mingling with centuries-old history in the air.

"Do you love Schweini there?"

The question was unforeseen and Lukas lost his breath again. He turned to look at his son, trying to figure out Louis' thought but the other kept looking at the far horizon, orange sunlight casted on his tiny face and golden hair. Lukas' mind reeled: what should he say? Five days ago he would never be wavered by this. Sure, he loved Bastian then, he'd never deny that, as much as best friends could love each other. He dared saying he loved his friend no lesser than anybody. But now, now everything had changed, his world had been turned upside down and he discovered something new in him since, something that had been lurking in the deepest closet of his heart for only God knew how long. He loved Bastian, had been for a long, long time but he'd never realized that until now. And it's not the kind of love that best friends had for one another, it's way far more than that, he also realized that now, he loved Bastian like lovers loved one another, and he's sure if he was given a delicate push in the right direction, he would soon realize this truth in the reality he'd come from as well.

"Yes," so Lukas answered and held his breath but his eyes had never steered away from his son.

Louis just nodded. "I understand," he said. Lukas found no malice in his voice and his heart beat real fast. "I like him, too."

The Pole exhaled the air he didn’t know he'd been holding since God only knew when. At that moment, he didn't think he'd felt this blessed before.

***

The next day, they went fishing along the Rhine River in the south of Cologne. The sun was bright and the weather nice, the river was a bit murky but they got fish alright. They went back to his parents' house and everyone had a hand in preparing dinner with what they'd got, which came out as lemon-herb grilled fish with asparagus.

He's on the phone with Bastian constantly, at least once a day but the most he'd been was three times a day. When they're fishing was the first time the blonde asked him to hand the phone to Louis. Lukas was surprised at first but complied to the request anyway. Louis took the phone when he told him that Bastian wanted to talk to him like it's the most normal thing in the world for them to do.

"Hello, Schweini," Louis said into the receiver. "Yeah, we are."

Lukas didn't know what the other end was saying. "You should have been here with us," Louis said and Lukas' heart swelled. "Next time you gotta take me to an island, too!" Louis pouted.

"I'll study hard."

"Schweini, do you love me?"

That question was unexpected and Lukas' eyes went wide. Louis didn't look at him, instead he stared at the mostly still water of the Rhine River except for when the soft wind blew.

The Pole didn't hear what Bastian said but Louis smiled very wide afterwards. "You promise?" and afterwards, "okay, talk to you later."

As he hung up and handed the phone back to Lukas, the Pole snatched his tiny son in his arms, his nose nuzzling up against Louis' temple and he hugged him tight, he smelled like the sun.

"I love you, too. You know that, right?"

He could feel Louis smile against his neck.

The next day, Lukas picked Louis up at Monika's house again for football practice and a movie later, 'The Expendable 3', which just had a premiere at Residenz Kino in Cologne two days ago. On Saturday, they mostly stayed in at his parents' house because Lukas realized he also wanted to spend time with them as much as he could. He also called his sister, Justyna, who’s also in town and she came without a second thought with her husband and kids, and they kind of have a family reunion party without special occasion, which should never require in the first place. Justyna and her little family looked the same as in the other reality and Lukas was glad for that because they’re a happy family enough as it was. That day, they all lazily wallowed in the cozy house and lush backyard garden on a sunny summer afternoon, cooked and ate - nothing fancy - chatted about everything and watched the kids play, and Lukas realized how much he loves them all.

They last day Lukas had left in Cologne, he drove Louis to Eifel National Park and the two of them trekked the 13.7 km-distance hiking route, Monrealer Ritterschlag, opted 'Germany's most beautiful hiking trail' in 2011. Monreal was a village with beautiful houses and narrow alleyways. The hiking trail followed the Eltz, a little creek in a deep canyon, and en route they found numerous gazebos with astonishing panoramas, they saw two castle ruins of Monreal, the Löwenburg or the Monreal castle, and the Phillippsburg. The sun was bright hot above their heads but the creek kept everything cool.

Needless to say that Louis liked it very much, he almost capered along the route that Lukas had to rebuke him all the time. But they couldn't go far, to Louis' extreme disappointment. Fourteen kilometers were too far for him and the trail would keep going uphill and was narrow and steep. There's a warning said the hiking trail wasn't suitable for beginners so no doubt it's way too dangerous for a seven-year-old.

But Lukas made up his mind to bring his son back again when he's older. When the time comes, they would walk the narrow and steep but breathtakingly beautiful fourteen kilometers: past invigorating forest, over verdant valleys and across the gushing creeks until the end together.

The walk of father and son.

***

Lukas called him often.

Bastian found his heart beating to a strange rhythm every time he saw the Pole's name on his mobile screen. They'd talk about everything happening in their lives, be it today's match or what they ate. He'd ask about Louis and Monika sometimes, and he's a bit surprised that Lukas had never once mentioned Sarah. Though she's practically out of his life now, he didn't recall ever actually telling Lukas about their break-up. Bastian found it strange, they were best friends for ten years, sure, but they had never been this particularly close, at least Lukas and he had never been on the phone three times a day like this. They'd call each other once a day at most and would mostly chat via texts normally. He didn't even know whether he liked the idea or not but so far he'd never rejected a call from Lukas.

He didn't have a heart to turn down his friend of course, Bastian told himself. Are you sure you've never really wanted this as well? He also asked himself.

Lukas visited him in Munich one more time before leaving to England. He'd take a flight to London from here.

They met at Bastian's place this time, with Lukas' luggage in tow. He planned to sleep over, the flight was tomorrow.

The doorbell rang and Bastian looked up from his iPhone, sauntered over to the door and opened it. Lukas stood there, an AHA! soldier cap on his head. The Pole grinned so wide and Bastian's stomach flipped. "Hey," Lukas greeted.

"Hey," Bastian, trying to be as composed as possible, grinned at him while stepping aside to let Lukas in. "How's the flight?"

"Boring, as usual." The Pole dragged his luggage in. "Where should I put this?"

"In the guestroom." He gestured to a door. The apartment had two bedrooms. "Or you want to sleep in my bed?" The Bavarian asked out of habit and then flushed a bit. Both rooms had king-size bed that two people could comfortably share, he did that with teammates all the time and also innumerable times with Lukas. He doesn't know why the idea seems tantalizing now.

Well, actually he knows.

Lukas looked at him, his expression unreadable but like he's scrutinizing Bastian. The gaze was probing until the blonde had to look away. "Umm-"

"Guestroom is fine," Lukas cut him off.

Having put stuff in the room, the Pole walked out to find Bastian in the kitchen. "What do you wanna eat?" The blonde was looking into the fridge for something that can be cooked. "We have chicken wings and drumsticks, beef fillet, some salads and broccolis, and, umm, that's all."

"Do you have garlic powder?" Lukas asked. Bastian swept his hand over a cluster of ingredients on the counter.

"Be my guest," he said. He's not really into cooking, these were all what Sarah had left behind, though they actually didn't cook much before. When they're still together, they usually dined out or ordered deliveries, though he always had something in the fridge, just in case.

And to be honest, he’s surprised as well when Lukas told him that they’d cook tonight. For one thing, he didn’t know the Pole could cook.

"Well, we'll make do." Lukas browsed through multicolored bottles on the counter and found something. "Aha!" He took a small bottle with cream-color cap out of the assemblage. "Take the drumsticks out, and the broccolis. Actually, take out everything. Do you also want the fillet?"

"We have ten drumsticks and wings together." Bastian looked at the pack.

"That's not much, though. Take the fillet out, too, then." He opened an overhead cupboard, looking for a bowl. "We'll marinated everything first."

Lukas was actually, surprisingly, a good cook.

They had dried spicy chicken with a taste of summer savory and medium-rare tenderloin steak with red wine sauce, sided by grilled broccolis and fries. Bastian wasn't sure they're even edible at first but since his first bite on a chicken wing, he couldn't stop eating.

"I though you told me you didn't know how to cook." Lukas used to say that Monika had been doing all the housework, so when did he learn to do all these? The Pole stopped the sliced steak mid-way to his mouth.

"I did?" He asked curiously, putting the meat in his mouth, his expression unreadable once again.

"Yeah." Bastian looked at his friend oddly, why there are so many things that he found weird about Lukas lately? Sometimes he felt like he didn't know him at all...

They finished dinner and both washed the dishes, afterwards they found themselves in a couch, playing FIFA15 like usual when they had time to spend together.

"Schweini, you in the game suck!"

"Poldi, I think that depends on how you play me. It's you that sucks!" He pressed fingers on the controller hard.

"Schweini, I've never played you." The Pole wriggled his brows, Bastian's stomach flipped again. And at that moment, he was distracted. Lukas who had the ball at the moment surged past his left and centre-back and scored with his Aaron Ramsey. Bastian grumbled.

"Shit."

"Apparantly, I know how to play Aaron better than you," the Pole smirked. Images flashed into Bastian’s mind at how many ways Lukas could actually 'play' Aaron and he found his face heating up. He didn't know how he could think something like that, it's definitely freakish. Lukas and Aaron would never do something like 'that', they're straight, both had wives. What the fuck is wrong with him anyway?

They played a full-match and as the game was about to end, Lukas scored another goal with the left foot of Olivier Giroud after clearly fouling on his Jerome Boateng without getting any fouls.

"Fucking hell!" Bastian shouted, "That’s a yellow card, it definitely is!" He threw the controller away and lunged at Lukas.

The Pole guffawed. Bastian put his hands on Lukas' waist and tickled him sending the Pole laugh louder. Lukas grabbed the blonde's waist, too, and the war began. The Pole tickled back, Bastian grabbed his wrists and forced them away from his body, the grip was forceful and he knew Lukas must be hurt. The Pole grunted and lifted his legs to clasp the blonde's hips in between to force him to tumble. The Bavarian resisted the force and fought back but he knew long ago that Lukas' strength wasn't easy to prevail against.

The struggle of power had a winner when suddenly Lukas flipped Bastian to lie on his back with the Pole on top of him, his wrists were manacled by Lukas' hands above his head and the Bavarian lay heaving hard helplessly, his lips parting slightly, olive-colored eyes staring at the Pole's bright blue and he found that there was something that he couldn't quite put a finger on again in those eyes, something that sparkled deep inside though it looked like the Pole's desperately trying to hide it.

Bastian's heart beat faster helplessly, that intensity again, though this time it's less fervid because Lukas might be getting better at concealing it, Bastian could still make it out as something that looked a lot like...lust.

His throat was dry so he swallowed hard, he felt Lukas' breath hitched as the staring contest went on, everything in the world was silent save for the soundtrack of an ending game and their pants. And their hearts, Bastian realized that there's a sound of beating hearts, not only his, but two hearts as they beat as one.

It took almost a full minute before Lukas slowly lowered his head and the blonde's heart almost stopped. He held his breath and kept their eye contact until they could no more. But Bastian didn't close his eyes, not even when he felt the Pole deflect, he aimed at Bastian's lips at first, he's quite sure, but at the last split second Lukas chickened out and deviated to Bastian's cheek instead, his hot breath ghosted wildly on the blonde's pale skin.

Bastian's mind screamed, how could they let a moment like this slip away? Again? Over and over? It's not that they'd never been this intimate before, quite contrary, situations like these happened very often between their fake fights and fooleries, but every time either of them would back away or pretend like it's nothing important.

Despite the fact that Lukas had wife and child and he’d dated Sarah for seven years, he always wondered whether there's something behind those feigned-innocent antics, behind those looks of affection Lukas always gave him. If he felt something, Lukas must have felt it, too.

At that moment, Bastian wanted to act on it. He wanted to turn his head so that his lips would catch Lukas', so that he could feel the soft, warm and tingling feeling of the Pole's lips which he'd always wondered what they would taste like, to feel Lukas' stubbles on his cheek as they kissed and feel his short hair as his fingers carded through them.

But he didn't.

He let that moment slip away.

Eventually, Lukas pulled away, the Pole's lips had never touched his cheek, let alone his lips.

And that's when Bastian finally closed his eyes.


	11. Chapter 11

It hadn't occurred to Lukas yet that he should try to figure out a way back to his reality, not even when he lay in bed the night before he had to catch a flight to London. All the time they'd spent together, Louis had never nagged about this though he looked eager enough to have his real dad back sooner rather than later before. He had no idea how something like this could happen of course, utterly mystified as much as Lukas.

But all he could think of during the time he'd spent in Cologne was how he could make it up to Louis. He felt guilty of leaving him here while he and Bastian had a time of their lives in Ibiza, he also felt guilty of how he hadn't been an ideal father to their family, he left Louis and Monika for Bastian, how could he be so cruel? According to Wikipedia, it's when Louis was only two years old that he decided that he wouldn't have them.

He must have realized that forcing a marriage between Monika and him would make nothing better. The love that was lost between them would never re-kindle, not to question whether they'd really been in love in the first place. He might have decided that the better way was to follow his heart, whatever will be, will be. He could make it work, THEY WOULD make it work. Together, in the end.

He woke up the next morning and flew to London, saying goodbye to Louis only on the phone.

***

London was sunny, a rare occasion with only a few months a year. Lukas looked out the window as the cab took him through the urban labyrinth full of narrow streets and shady shortcuts, through towering brick structures that stood through wars and peace for hundreds of years, through chaos with black cabs and double-decker red buses on the lanes, and through regal histories which majestically reigned the lawless mixture of diversely migrated civilizations, from South Africa to India, China and beyond. Being the capital of the nation that conquered almost a third of the world once, London had a unique charm unlike any place on earth and Lukas had helplessly fallen in love with it since the first day.

The cab stopped in front of his rented house in Holloway. His heart still raced faster without reason since he's quite sure this was also his house in this reality, evidences be pictures in his phone as well as photos on his Facebook and Instagram of house parties, he didn't know why he's still afraid of being wrong.

He paid the driver and walked up to the building. He noticed that his car wasn't there. In his reality, his agent took care of his car during the World Cup so he assumed it might be the same here. And also his dog. Realization hit him in the face, where is his dog? He also left him with his agent before he went to the international call-up, is it the same here? Does he have a dog in this reality?

Lukas' stomach churned, fuck, if he doesn't have Bruno, what should he do?

The Pole opened the door with his key. The house was quiet and stuffy, the curtains were all closed but the powerful sunlight could still penetrate through the drape casting on drifting dust in the room. The house looked pretty much the same and smelled like sultry sun.

The first thing he did after putting down his luggage was calling his agent.

"I was about to call you," his agent said after picking up the phone.

"Hey," the Pole greeted uncertainly, "do you have my car?"

"I have your car, of course," his agent's voice sounded suspicious. "I'll drive it to you with Bruno. Lunch, mate?"

So his agent picked him up for a casual lunch, bringing Bruno with him. The Labrador Retriever was ecstatic being back in Lukas' arms again.

He went to training and everything felt exactly like he knew: the silly antics with Jack and Alex, close friendship with Per and brotherly love with Mesut, as well as smoldering skinship with Olivier and affectionate banters bordering on flirting with Aaron. With the new knowledge of how homosexual was viewed in this world, though they'd kidded like this all the time before, Lukas suddenly felt weird when Olivier smacked him on the ass.

"Welcome back, Weltmeister," the French smiled by the corner of his lips. Lukas grinned, squashing the restless feeling down.

"Hello, Oli."

"How's Ibiza?" Olivier winked. And Lukas had the grace to blush.

"Hot." The Pole winked back nonetheless. Olivier smirked.

"Catch up with us, dude. Coming back late from a sultry celebration on a party island, you must be limp." The smirk still plastered on his face as he pinched Lukas’ cheek while walking past him.

On the pitch, Lukas stretched beside Aaron. "How's vacation?" He knew Aaron in his universe had just got married to his childhood sweetheart and went honeymoon in Venice, but he didn't know about Aaron here.

"Nice, of course." The Welsh smiled. "Colleen love it, and I have to say Venice is one of the most romantic cities on earth," he paused and Lukas sighed in relief in his head, at least there's something that didn't change. He couldn't express how happy he is now that Aaron is straight and just wedded to his long-time girlfriend in the summer. "But I guess no city is more romantic to you than Ibiza right at the moment." Aaron chuckled and Lukas blushed. Why does everyone keep teasing him about this? Isn't it normal for Bastian and him to go on vacation together? "How is the birthday boy?" the Welsh asked.

"Live on the alcohols," Lukas said. "I don't think there's more suitable place than a party island for him."

"I think that's general knowledge." Aaron smirked. "Everyone expects more than that from you, Lukas."

The Pole quirked his brow. "Like what?"

"Like, what have you been doing on that island for five nights in a row?"

Lukas guffawed. "Why? I thought that's general knowledge." He wiggled his brows.

"Not when you had just won the World Cup and it's also Schweini's birthday." Aaron smirked back. "It's one hella special occasion. I bet it's as sweet as my honeymoon. Knowing you, it might be even sweeter."

"How sweet was your honeymoon? Tell me," the Pole grabbed the chance to avert the subject. "Expecting quadruplets?" He teased.

"If you can get Schweini up the duff, I reckon you would have a dozen by now," the Welsh retaliated. Image flashed into his mind of Bastian and him having lots of kids running around in a house with a white picket fence in the country with hills and lakes. Lukas squashed that idea down to the ground real fast.

"We aren't bunnies." But Bastian is, kind of.

"Well, I thought you called him 'mein hase'." Aaron raised his brow.

"You sly fox. Why do you know everything?!"

Aaron crossed his arms over his chest. "Schweini is your bunny, but I am a sly fox? That's hardly fair, isn't it, Lukas? I am your boy, too," he deadpanned.

The Pole had the grace to blush. What the fuck was that supposed to mean?! Aaron and him? What does he mean by 'I am your boy, too'? Does that mean Aaron and he...

Lukas squashed the idea down real fast again. Aaron laughed. "No need to make a disconcerted face, Lukas, this fox isn't going to bite you." He smiled innocently.

"Even if you do, you'd run back to your wife like a frightened mammal." The Pole smirked.

"Why, Lukas?" Aaron raised his brow. "I'm not afraid of you."

Lukas' heart raced in his chest. What the heck? Is this how a married straight man supposed to talk to his gay teammate in this universe?

Surely, they're joking, but he still wondered whether Bastian knew this is how Gunners banter.

After his life in London had been settled, he eventually had time for reflection. One day after training, Lukas opened his laptop and googled the words 'alternate reality'.

He spent the best part of the next three hours in front of the screen, reading every article he found regarding 'parallel universe' from Wikipedia to sci-fi and fantasy website: from fantastic fictions to quantum physics.

 _'Would it be possible that there's a Universe out there where everything happened exactly as it did in this one, except you did one tiny thing different, and hence had your life turn out incredibly different as a result?'_ A website he randomly opened read.

Lukas stared at it incredulously.

_'It's an incredible notion: that there’s a Universe out there for every outcome that's conceivable.' Very. Lukas wondered what that 'one tiny thing' he, or Bastian, or someone else did that made this universe the way it is._

_‘In the past decade, an extraordinary claim has captivated cosmologists: that the expanding universe we see around us is not the only one, that billions of other universes are out there, too. There is not one universe - there is a multiverse. In Scientific American articles and books such as Brian Greene’s latest, The Hidden Reality, leading scientists have spoken of a super-Copernican revolution. In this view, not only is our planet one among many, but even our entire universe is insignificant on the cosmic scale of things. It is just one of the countless universes, each doing its own thing. He describes the idea of the notion that "our universe is one of potentially numerous 'slabs' floating in a higher-dimensional space, much like a slice of bread within a grander cosmic loaf.”_

_‘Quantum mechanics describes the world in terms of probabilities rather than definite outcomes. And the mathematics of this theory might suggest that all possible outcomes of a situation do occur — in their own separate universes. For example, if you reach a crossroads where you can go right or left, the present universe gives rise to two daughter universes: one in which you go right, and one in which you go left. And in each universe, there's a copy of you witnessing one or the other outcome, thinking — incorrectly — that your reality is the only reality.’_

Lukas would find these facts ultimately mind-blogging indeed if not for the cold-hard truth that he’d inadvertently crossed to a said parallel universe - if it’s actually one - without knowing how and a way back.

He took much interest in bizarre occurrences happening at the Bermuda Triangle or the mysterious disappearance of the unfortunate MH370 which some people thought had travelled to a parallel universe. Every piece of information boggled his mind but he decided he wouldn't go into the mechanics of how that's possible, it hardly helped the situation since he didn't think he could beat science by inventing a multiverse travel machine soon and it's too much for his brain anyway. Rather, he focused on finding information about how to travel between universes.

Nonetheless, it hardly said how one could do that. Quantum physics did say something about traveling through wormholes and people believed that that might be what had happened at the Bermuda Triangle or to MH370. The universe, which was most likely flat according to the Cosmic Inflation Theory, could be folded and two points of different places and times overlay one another. The fabric of said points could be pierced through if space-time was extremely distorted and a tunnel would bridge the gap between them. That's how wormholes work, and that might be how on a normal summer morning, Lukas woke up in Ibiza instead of Turkey where he fell asleep, and one day prior at that.

In the end, Lukas changed tack and googled a dream under a dream, because all the theoretical physics were too incomprehensible for him and he thought the philosophy of dreams might be easier. Well, if it's really a dream, he must have had a very wet dream.

 _‘As if I were not a man who sleeps at night, and regularly has all the same experiences while asleep as madmen do when awake indeed sometimes even more improbable ones. How often, asleep at night, am I convinced of just such familiar events that I am here in my dressing-gown, sitting by the fire when in fact I am lying undressed in bed! Yet at the moment my eyes are certainly wide awake when I look at this piece of paper, I shake my head and it is not asleep, as I stretch out and feel my hand I do so deliberately, and I know what I am doing. All this would not happen with such distinctness to someone asleep. Indeed! As if I did not remember other occasions when I have been tricked by exactly similar thoughts while asleep! As I think about this more carefully, I see plainly that there are never any sure signs by means of which being awake can be distinguished from being asleep. The result is that I begin to feel dazed, and this very feeling only reinforces the notion that I may be asleep,’_ wrote René Descartes.

He's fucking wrong, deciphering the metaphysics of being was as much mind-blogging and in no way easier.

Lukas was thinking about calling it a day and cuddling Bruno to sleep when Bastian called him on Skype, he must have seen him online.

"Hey, babe," the Pole accepted the call and smiled at the screen where Bastian's face appeared on his laptop. Lukas grinned widely, he didn't know he'd missed the blonde this much until he saw his face. Bastian smiled back at him.

"Hey," he greeted, "what are you doing?"

Lukas could hardly tell the truth. "Reading stuff on the Internet," he said, "you?"

"Hope that 'stuff' isn't our fanfictions again." Bastian snickered. "You have an outrageous imagination already."

The Pole quirked his brow. 'Our fanfictions'? Well, he knew the fans adored Schweinski and he had heard about fanarts and fanfictions before, not only of Bastian and him but also any other pairings that the fans wanted them together, both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. But he'd never seen or read one.

From the way Bastian said, he reckoned Lukas in this reality took a fancy to reading stuff like that and applied the fans' imagination in real life. His cheeks flushed red.

"Want to try my latest imagination?" He teased nonetheless. Bastian looked at him appraisingly for a time, then he said,

"All right."

Lukas' breath hitched. What? Whoa. Wait.

Before the Pole could reply with anything, Bastian's fingers slipped to the topmost button of his shirt, about to push it through the buttonhole, but then he paused. "Do you want me to take off my shirt now or later?" His voice was low and seductive.

Lukas' heart beat fast. Fucking hell, they're going to play sex cam. Bastian didn't seem fazed by the idea so he reckoned they might have done it before. Lukas tried not to blush as he almost stuttered, "take it off for me, Schweini."

Bastian had the grace to blush, he slowly slipped the button through the buttonhole one by one. The Pole swallowed hard, he didn't want to stare but it would be rude if he looked away from the show Bastian had put on for him and him only. The Bavarian finished with the buttons and slowly took the shirt off his arms, his chest was so pale and his nipples were so pink against the white skin. Then Bastian took his laptop and put it on the bed, adjusted the angle until the camera focus was on the middle of his torso.

Lukas' breath hitched again as Bastian's hand lowered to his crotch and caressed his cock through the jeans. The Pole felt his flesh strain against the fabric of his shorts. Fuck, he wanted to touch Bastian, to kiss him and caress him and, damn, fuck him hard.

"Luki, I'm waiting," the blonde's voice could be heard through the speaker and Lukas blushed realizing that he'd been staring at Bastian's groin for a full minute and the Bavarian took note of that, too. The Pole caught the hem of his t-shirt and pulled it off through his head. Bastian slowly slipped the button of his jeans off its hole unhurriedly, then the zipper. By the time the blonde finished taking his jeans off his feet, Lukas was fully hard.

"Where do you want to touch me first?" Bastian's voice was too seductive for his own good. Lukas swallowed hard again, this time because his throat was too dry.

"Your lips," Lukas whispered.

Bastian adjusted the angle of his camera until his face appeared on screen again. The tip of his fingers touched his own lower lip which parted slightly, the tip of his tongue slipped out slightly to lick his fingers and the Pole’ breath hitched.

That’s way too sexy.

"Your throat," he whispered again and the blonde's fingertips trailed down his impeccable neck while the Pole's hand slid down to his straining crotch. "Your nipple," he said.

Bastian's fingertips roamed all over his own body everywhere Lukas named it. In the end, his fingers ended up kneading the pucker of his entrance and Bastian's wild breaths were driving Lukas insane. "Fuck, Basti, I want to fuck you," his voice was husky, sweats sprouted on his forehead, his hand was under his shorts and by sheer will power he hadn't madly jerked himself off. He'd never masturbated in front of anyone before and believe it or not, he's kind of embarrassed.

"Then fuck me," and Bastian slipped his fingers into his hole.

"Gosh!" Lukas bit his lip and will power couldn't hold him back this time. He tugged himself hard in line with Bastian's frantic movement. Fuck, he wanted to put his cock in that cramped hole, the hot, clinching place where his cock fit perfectly, he wanted to hold Bastian tight and savour him all night like a parched wanderer who'd been roaming through desert for months on end with not enough water.

"Let me see it, Luki," Bastian panted.

Lukas fished out his swollen member. The blonde groaned, grabbed his cock and fisted it harsh and fast. "Fuck, Luki!" With fingers in his ass and tight hand on his erection, it took less than two minutes before he climaxed fiercely.

As Lukas climbed into bed that night with Bruno by his side, an ecstatic smile on his face and an afterglow, he wondered whether he'd really like to find a way back home after all.

 


	12. Chapter 12

Lukas bought _'The Hidden Reality'_ by physicist Brian Greene.

As well as a couple of science books relating to parallel universe. He skipped Descartes though, he didn't think the philosopher would help him much. The Pole spent the next week immersing in the deluge of quantum physics in hope to find something somewhere that would hint him the way home.

"Mate, you free this evening? We have a party at my place." Alex clapped his shoulder from behind while Lukas was dressing in front of his locker. They'd just finished training.

"Who else is coming?" He asked.

"Olivier, Mathieu, Abou, Theo, Aaron, Calum, Jack, Alexis, Mikel, Santi, Laurent, Wojciech, is that all? I have yet to ask Per and Mesut, maybe it'd be easier for them to decide if I tell them you're going."

"Tell them I'm going."

"That's how we roll!" Alex clapped his shoulder again and grinned his ninja-turtle charming grin. "You know where my house is?"

"Send me the location."

They ordered Chinese, Indian and Thai since they couldn't unanimously decide which oriental cuisine to go for. Alex's rented house was fashionably decorated in modern style, it's not very large but super cozy and Lukas really loved the atmosphere.

After the gambol which was supposedly dinner, Jack proposed that they should have a tournament of Virtua Fighter 5 by dividing them all into four teams with drawing straws, each team had four players equally. They would combat and jot down the scores, losers paid for the meals.

Lukas' team had Aaron, Alexis and Mesut.

When it's Lukas' turn, his combatant was Olivier.

"If I actually beat you, a kiss is my reward, Lukas." Olivier smirked.

"Whoa, you'd better have an alibi on tap if Schweini asks." Santi wiggled his brows annoyingly.

"Oh, he can't know that! Don't let him know that! Oli would be a dead body!" Abou laughed.

"Don't lose on purpose, Poldi," Aaron teased.

Lukas tried his hardest but he still lost, to everyone's anticipating whoops as Olivier smirked upper-handedly. "Where do you want it to be?" The French jived.

"You can kiss my ass," the Pole joked but then he realized that he's actually gay and flushed crimson. The cheers were even louder. Oliver quirked his brow up.

"You don't actually think I wouldn't dare, do you?"

Eventually, Olivier kissed him on the corner of his lips amid loud whoops. The French released him after only a second, a grin plastered on his face before he walked back to sit beside Mathieu who gave him a sharp look. Lukas wondered whether this was normal for Olivier or it’s the privilege of this universe where there's less to none homophobe.

How would the other reality be if humans are less judgmental and ready to embrace the differences by accepting everyone as they truly are?

No, THIS IS how the other reality WILL BE, everything around him is almost exactly the same: his career, his family, his friends, and Bastian, the only exception is that someone had done a tiny bit thing differently, like turning left rather than right, and that has made all the differences, that has changed the world.

And Lukas had the blessing to see it.

At the moment, he felt very grateful to any being who sent him here.

But besides Olivier, others didn't seem to have the urge to chase Lukas' ass nor any other's down like the French so he reckoned it must be an unusual affection Olivier seemed to have towards him. But Olivier was married and had a baby girl, in the other reality as well as this, he'd checked, though to have kids didn’t mean one wasn’t gay anyway, look at him for example. Nonetheless, he could feel that the kiss as well as other larks meant nothing special, they're just for fun and to wire him up.

As the night wore on, the first tournament ended and the team with Mathieu, Abou, Per and Mikel lost. The captain suggested that they played another tournament, his team would be responsible for the food of course, but who lose this time would have to pay for the drinks.

Jack asked whether he realized that if his team loses again, the damages would be double.

At one point in the middle of the second tournament, his team's in the lead and Mesut's intensely battling with Calum who's really good, Bastian called.

"What are you doing?" The Bavarian asked.

"Playing games with the boys," he answered, "I'm at Alex's house."

"Who else is there?"

Lukas listed everyone's names in the room.

"Giroud's there?" Bastian didn't sound ecstatic when he heard Olivier's name. "Did he do anything to you?"

The Pole almost guffawed, seems like Olivier's boundless deviltry was well-known even as far as Germany. He wondered whether it's always like this between them, and whether Olivier intentionally did that with him just to annoy Bastian. "Well, I lost to him a battle and he briefly pecked me on the cheek, it's very brief anyway," he hastily added.

"What?" Bastian's voice turned low. “Are you sure it’s on the cheek?”

"Well, the corner of my mouth, actually." He didn't want to lie to Bastian though he's uncertain now whether he really wanted to test the blonde's wrath or not.

"Is this a game or something?" His voice's bordering on dangerous now. The Pole swallowed.

"Well, we play Virtua Fighter and my contender was Olivier. We kind of had a bet that if I lose, he’s gotta kiss me."

"Did you lose on purpose, Lukas Josef Podolski?" Bastian’s voice was cold as ice.

"No, of course not!" Why did Bastian and Aaron have to say the same thing?

"Tell him to stay away," the blonde grunted and hastily added, "And you stay away from him, too!"

***

The best bet might be going to the point where it all began.

The season had started and Lukas still couldn't find anything worth digging for more. He'd finished many physics books regarding parallel universes and still nothing stood out as worthy of an experiment. So lately he turned to books like _'The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: Solved'_ , or _'Into Oblivion: Understanding MH370'_ , or even _'Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew'_.

Still, none of them gave him light, only an idea that maybe if he could find a way back to his universe eventually, he should just write a book.

So there's an only way, he must go to Turkey and go out on a yacht to the point he anchored that night, maybe there's a door to another universe there though that area of Mediterranean didn't have the reputation of swallowing boats and planes without reason or actually any area whatsoever, only occasional storms.

But the point is, where is that 'point'?

That day, they started off from Bodrum and then the captain of the yacht was the one who took them wherever he wanted. That night they anchored in the middle of the sea though he could still see the coast of Turkey twinkling by electricity under starlight faraway. He couldn't ask anyone because in this reality, he'd never went there with his family, hadn’t he? At least not by this summer.

But he had to go, he might find something there.

So Lukas had his agent arranged a secret trip to Turkey. He'd need to make it brief, only a two-day, one-night trip since the season had already started. He told his agent that he had a very important matter to deal with someone in Turkey.

After the match with Everton, Lukas caught a plane to Bodrum.

***

He didn't tell Bastian that he's out to Turkey, though he didn't actually want to lie, he found that even if he told him he's visiting Turkey, he'd have to lie about 'why' all the same.

The night was dark, it's a new moon night so he could see all the twinkling stars clearly upon the cloudless sky. Lukas was on a yacht in the vicinity where he reckoned they anchored that night, the coast was far out but it could still be seen by scintillating artificial lights at the horizon where the sky met the sea and blended together in the pitch darkness. Lukas felt like the universe was enveloping him with a black velvety blanket of twinkling stars and shimmering sea like it's trying to protect and comfort him.

He asked the captain of the yacht to drive around a bit for hours, telling him that he's looking for a spot where he anchored last time. Though the captain actually saw no tenable point, he followed the Pole's request anyway since he's the one who paid.

It's beyond midnight when they eventually called it a day.

And now Lukas was sitting in a deck chair staring at the darkness like he hoped an answer to the mystery of the universe would deign to advent in front of his eyes. The wind was strong in the middle of the night and though Lukas hadn't had a proper sleep since last night, he didn't feel sleepy at all. His mind ran through what happened that night, that night just before he fell asleep, he wished that he would be in Ibiza with Bastian on his birthday instead of here.

Is that what it takes? A wish? He's on this same spot in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and wished upon a...what, exactly? And the next morning he woke up, still in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea but on a different side with 2,300-kilometre distance and a universe apart.

If that's actually what triggered the gate to parallel universe to open, it's worth a try, isn't it?

What about Bastian? And Louis? Questions popped up in his head and he squashed them down. They belonged here, he's the alien in this reality so he shouldn't be worried about them, Christ, he should be worried about HIMSELF. He felt guilty a bit if what he's going to do would work and he'd leave this universe without actually saying his son and his lover goodbye...

His lover...

Bastian here belonged to the other Lukas, not him. If he really wanted him, he should go back to where he belongs and work for it, not simply stealing from somebody else, even though that somebody was him.

Lukas took in a deep breath, closed his eyes and made a wish.  
  
Hoping that the next morning when he wakes up, he'd find himself in his own bed somewhere in the world, still married to Monika and had Bastian as his best friend...

Not for long, though. He'd find a way to be with Bastian again soon. He'd tasted the forbidden fruit once, he'd never be the same again.

But for now, goodbye, Louis, and Schweini.


	13. Chapter 13

The minute Lukas woke up, he's afraid to open his eyes.

He didn't know whether it's because he'd be disappointed if he woke up and found that he hadn't gone anywhere, or even more disappointed if he'd actually crossed back to his real universe.

In other words, he didn't know whether he really wanted to go back, whether he really wanted to leave just yet, he couldn't even tell that if he actually woke up in the same bed he'd gone to sleep last night, he would be distressed or ecstatic. And if he woke up to the reality he'd come from, whether he'd be exultant or inconsolable.

His mind was a turmoil, a predicament he didn't have a solution to.

But he had to face it anyway.

So Lukas opened his eyes and found that he's alone in bed.

As he looked around the room uncertainly with a conflicting heart, he realized that it's the same bed he fell asleep in last night, the same cabin. So he's on the same yacht that he'd hired to look for the door to another universe in the middle of the sea outside the coast of Bodrum. A part of him was a bit disappointed that everything looked exactly the same as last night, the other part was...relieved that he's still here.

Nevertheless, the same surroundings didn't actually mean that he hadn't crossed the universes in his sleep. So he got up to the deck in broad shorts and found the same captain. But talking to the captain still couldn't prove anything. The other Lukas, if they had swapped places in each other's reality like he'd hypothesized, might have been trying to find a way home by sailing in a yacht in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea like he's doing as well, outside the coast of Bodrum must be the spot he bewilderedly woke up to on that wacky morning after all.

There were not many people on his choices right now who could prove which universe was which.

Lukas called Bastian.

"Hey," the Bavarian picked up.

"Hey," Lukas answered, he felt unreasonably nervous and found that he didn't know what to say next.

"What are you doing?" so Bastian asked.

"Err," Lukas realized immediately that he had to lie, "I just woke up." But this bit was alright, right?

"What are you gonna do today?" the blonde asked further.

"Err, umm, I don't know," and he hurriedly shot the question back, "you?"

"Training, of course," Bastian answered and Lukas could hear him stretch lazily in bed. He smiled instantaneously at the adorableness of the image in his mind. "You don't have training today?"

"Of course, I have," he replied, and then, "umm, Basti," he paused, took in a deep breath.

"Yeah?"

"I love you," said the Pole.

He could actually imagine the Bavarian smile widely this time. "I love you, too, Luki."

Lukas smiled. "I've gotta run, okay? Talk to you later."

"Okay, take care, Poldi."

"Bye, baby." He hung up.

So, it didn't work.

Lukas paced to and fro on the deck, his fingers caressing the stubbles on his chin as he's immersed in thought. The sun's up radiating its piercing rays on land and water of this transcontinental country, it's a nice summer day but Lukas didn't have time nor mood to admire the view. If the wish didn't work, then what?

The Pole exhaled loudly, staying another night wouldn't result in anything if he didn't have another plan. He'd better get back to London before Arsene would decide that he should just sell him this time.

***

On September the first, Joachim called them up for the first international break after the World Cup.

It's almost a month that Lukas hadn't seen Bastian in the flesh, but he's here now, standing in front of him with a Louis Vuitton duffle bag dangling over his shoulder.

The Pole smiled so wide, Bastian smiled back sweetly.

"Miss me, Poldi?"

Lukas hadn't known he'd missed the blonde this much until he closed the gap between them with a passionate kiss on the lips that's worth the time they'd been apart.

"Whoa, whoa. Get a room, uncles!" Marco who's walking by with Mario and Andre teased. Lukas instantly sprang away from Bastian, cheeks flushed crimson. The three boys giggled in amusement. He'd totally forgot that they're in public the second he saw Bastian, how could he be so reckless?

"Let's put our bags in the room." The Bavarian caught his hand and dragged him in the direction of the rooms. He's about to ask whether they're each other's roommates but shut up in time, it shouldn't be otherwise, if the staff did have arranged the room otherwise before, he should've known better by now.

The moment Bastian shut the door behind them, Lukas attacked him with his hot lips.

The blonde grinned against his kiss then reciprocated. He pushed the Pole back in the direction of their bed and tripped him on his back. Their lips-lock broke and Lukas lay there staring up at Bastian who's now straddling his hips. "You do miss me, don't you?" the blonde asked huskily and his sexy voice ran straight from his ears to his groin.

Fucking hell, how could this man have so much control over his mind and body?!

"Fuck, Schweini!" He groaned the only word he had in mind and bucked up his hips, his hard erection rubbing against Bastian's crotch. The blonde arched, moaned and moved his hips creating ever more frictions in response. Lukas gasped, Bastian put hands on the Pole's chest then tantalizingly slid them down to his abs then the waistband of his jeans, he unhurriedly unbuttoned them.

Lukas couldn't find his breath.

In no time, his cock was freed from the confinement of fabric. His breath hitched as Bastian rubbed it against his bulging jeans slowly and sensually. The act was so wanton it almost hurt that he couldn't come right there by the sight of it.

Then Bastian released his cock and got up on his knees. Lukas groaned frustratingly at the desertion of warmth of the blonde's hand which was now fumbling with his jeans, then he intentionally dawdlingly stripped them off before taking off his shirt as well. And though Lukas had seen it many times before, the sight of a naked Bastian still took his breath away.

As they became one, Lukas looked at the Bavarian and realized that this thing happened so naturally to them. They fitted together perfectly, like they're two parts of the same being, like they're carved for each other from the start. He wasn't surprised, though. The only wonder he had was that why he’d never realized this before, why he's so blinded by the fallacious social norm and hypocritical bigotry that he couldn't see through the layers of brainwashing beliefs to the fact that he'd been in love with Bastian from the start.

It had taken him ten solid years to realize that.

He also wouldn't be surprised if he's to have more chances to visit other universes and also find out that he's in love with Bastian there.

It would always be like that, he knew, there's no better alternative otherwise. He'd choose Bastian, time and time again, over and over.

Always.

***

"Congratulations, captain!"

Mats Hummels clapped his hand on Bastian's shoulder, the other looked up and smiled at the messy dark-haired guy and also the blond boy beside him.

"Congratulation," Erik Durm wasn't a boy of many words but his innocent smile could actually brighten up the whole town.

"Thanks, both of you."

"Hey, Durmi," Marco came out of nowhere and put his arm around Erik's shoulder. "Congrats, Bastiano," he said and grinned, then his eyes caught Mats’ which were narrowing at him. "Alright, alright, just look, don't touch." He instantly pulled his arm away from Erik's shoulder and the blond boy looked between the two, at a loss as ever.

Lukas looked at the three of them with interest.

And then Mario came up. "Marco, stop flirting with whomever in your proximity and let's go to the pool." He seemed to be needing relaxation after a long day.

"Okay," so Marco left with Mario.

"Let's go, Erik," and then Mats left, too, with Erik trailing after him like a little puppy. Lukas' eyes followed them until they disappeared and then he caught sight of Mesut and Sami who seemed to be joined at the hips since the first second they met. So now we had Götzeus, Durmmels and Samisut? Well, especially Samisut, he wouldn't be surprised if they're to end up together for real in this reality to be honest, if you ask. He noted in mind to google about them all afterwards.

The next day they had a friendly with Argentina National Football Team at the ESPRIT Arena. Bastian who's supposed to have a debut match as the 22nd captain of the Germany National Football Team was injured so he only sat in the stands watching the match instead. The final score was 4-2, Germany lost, to their bashfulness. They said Argentina had successfully avenged for their pride in this World Cup final re-match but hey, at least they don't have the golden trophy like we do.

"Dad!"

Lukas turned around to the familiar voice at the same time Louis ran towards him. Lukas' eyes went wide. Düsseldorf was close to Cologne but neither Monika nor Louis did say anything about coming to watch the friendly when they spoke on the phone yesterday. It's a surprise. "Louis!" Lukas smiled zealously at his son as well as nodded to Monika who's trailing after the boy, then he secretly winced realizing that his son had just witnessed their defeat. "Err, we're not in the best form today," he hastily covered.

"It's alright, dad. We had already displayed the true form when we beat Argentina last time." Louis grinned mischievously and Lukas had the urge to hug and kiss him for his smugness when another character came into the picture.

"Luk-" Bastian stopped short in his tracks when he saw Louis standing beside Lukas, then his eyes shifted and he also noticed Monika, he nodded to her. "Hello, Monika." Then he turned to Louis. "Louis, what's up? Luki didn't say that you and your mom would drop by today."

Lukas glanced at Monika while Bastian's speaking and caught sight of her rolling eyes at the word 'Luki'. Lukas' cheeks turned pink.

"That's because it's a surprise," Louis answered. "I didn't tell daddy that we'd come today."

"That's sweet." Bastian grinned at the boy and Louis grinned back at him. Lukas' heart skipped a beat at the sight of his lover and son getting along.

But seems like Monika didn't find this heartwarming as well as she didn't have that affection towards Bastian which her son might have, which was kind of understandable if he's in her shoes, Bastian took the father of her only child away from them, though that mightn't be Bastian's fault at all. "Louis, leave your dad alone, he needs to take a shower," so she said. Louis pouted but walked away from Lukas. The Pole's heart clenched and was wrenched harder when he took note of Bastian's countenance as he realized that he's the reason that made them go away.

Well, only Monika, actually, but Monika took Louis with her anyway. "We'll see you later," Monika said before walking away with their son.

"Poldi, I'm sorry." The blonde turned around and his usually bright olive-colored eyes were distressed.

"It's okay, baby." And he really meant that, it's okay. Maybe not now but he knew everything would work out the way it should someday somehow, like how everything between Bastian and him had worked out now.

Because it's meant to be, whether in this universe or the other or actually anywhere else,

He'd always be Bastian's, and Bastian would always belong to him.


	14. Chapter 14

Lukas didn't really try to find a way out of here anymore.

Life went on the same as it should've been if he's in the real reality, in Lukas' opinion at least: his career, his life in London, the only differences were that his lover was Bastian instead of Monika, he's gay and he had nothing to hide from the world about it.

September segued into October as the leaves turned brown before falling to the ground, the enchanted summer had gone making way for the listless winter. After the first international call-up just for a week, he met Bastian at Dortmund when Arsenal had a match there, which they lost, but he could stay only for a night since he had a match the day after. Monika also brought Louis there because it's very close to Cologne and he also stopped by his home for two nights to be with Louis.

Monika still didn't talk to Bastian, Lukas had no idea of since when they hadn't been on good terms, he didn’t really know the history between them after all. In his reality, Bastian's always polite towards Monika if they ever had a chance to meet, which, well, wasn't much lately, and Monika, who's always reticent, would be civil towards him, too. He wondered whether Monika would allow Louis to go on holidays with them if he's to ask.

One day in autumn, Lukas went out to a bookstore near his house and half-heartedly browsed through books. He stopped by science section first, caught hold of Michio Kaku's 'Parallel Worlds' and then strayed to other sections, then his eyes caught a glimpse of a book about gems.

Lukas stopped short, his mind brought back the image of the pendant around Bastian's neck with its dazzling multi-colors dancing in the sun. Bastian also wore it sometimes when they met, like in Dortmund that day where he came to cheer for Lukas. He noticed that its colors did change to the color of green grass, then a bit to aureolin close to Borussia Dortmund's and then to crimson like Lukas' shirt, though under Germany's sun, it wasn't as resplendently flamboyant as when sparkling to Ibiza's summer sun.

He'd never known what type of gems it was.

On the spur of the moment, Lukas snatched that book and browsed through pages after pages, looking for gems that can literally change colors when sunlight caught the right angles.

But he found none of it.

As he turned to the last pages, Lukas frowned. Whether this book was incomprehensive or it's just a fake cheap tawdry trinket. But Lukas had never seen something like that before, it didn't look fake, cheap, or tawdry, it looked more like high jewelry with occult elements, like it's sorcerer's creation not simply polished by hands of a layman.

Lukas didn't know why he felt like that.

So when his eyes caught another book, _'Gems and Their Myths, Legends and Lore'_ , he didn't think twice before snatching it up.

Lukas flipped through pages and pages, glancing at pictures after pictures of colorful gems but since the colors of Bastian's pendant kept altering every time it's licked by sunlight, soon Lukas realized he didn't know what he's actually looking for. He paused at sapphire, aquamarine, turquoise, malachite, emerald, even at ruby and amber, and he knew all of these weren't what he's really searching, that gem didn't have definite color, it's like a chameleon that had an ability to shift shades according to surroundings. Lukas flipped through the pages faster and stopped when he arrived at the myth section, then he started to scan the words slower.

Then Lukas stopped short at the word _'Wish-Fulfilling Gems'._

He wondered what it would be like to be in Ibiza with Bastian on his birthday tonight instead of Turkey.

Lukas stared, just by reading the word 'wish-fulfilling gems', his mind instantly brought forth the line that popped up in his mind that night before he fell asleep. It's not a definite wish, just something he thought out of curiosity, despite the fact that it might be what he secretly wanted in his subconscious unawares for a long time. Lukas scanned through the page,

_'There are two major legends concerning wish-fulfilling gems in world mythology. One is Tibetan, the other, Romani,_

_‘1) The Cintamani Stone_

_‘Most people are familiar with the concept of the Philosopher’s Stone, but few have heard of the Cintamani Stone. Cintāmaṇi (Sanskrit, Devanagari: चिन्तामणि) or Chintamani (or the Chintamani Stone) is a wish-fulfilling jewel within both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, the equivalent to the philosopher’s stone in Western alchemy._

_‘According to Buddhist legend, the Cintamani is one of the four relics that came in a chest that fell from the sky during the reign of king Lha Thothori Nyantsen of Tibet (circa 5th century). Though the king did not understand the purpose of the objects, he kept them in a position of reverence. Several years later, two mysterious strangers appeared at the court of the king, explaining the four relics, which included the Buddha’s bowl (possibly a Singing Bowl) and a mani stone with the Om Mani Padme Hum mantra inscribed on it. These few objects were the bringers of the Dharma to Tibet so the ancient Buddhists revered it as a spiritual jewel. However, its power was considered so great, and so potentially disastrous, they ultimately sent it to be hidden away in the etheric plane within the ancient mystical, hidden kingdom of Shambhala and kept by the “King of the World.”_

_‘Its physical properties are mostly ordinary, described as green, and trapezohedron in shape. But its greater powers lie in a higher dimension, invisible to our own senses, what looks like an ordinary rock is actually a powerful, pan-dimensional artifact. Possession of the stone elevates its holder to a higher state of being, granting knowledge of all time and space and, consequently, the potential for world domination. And, much like the Philosopher’s Stone and the Holy Grail, its wielder may even attain immortality. In fact, it’s theorized that the Philosopher’s Stone, the Holy Grail, and the Cintamani Stone are one and the same._

_‘2) Gypsy Wish-Granting Stone_

_‘According to Romani folklore, the Gypsy Wish-Granting Stone's most striking feature is its hypnotizingly mystic colors which can be changed to various shades of blue, green, or sometimes other colors when sunlight reflects different angles of the stone. It is said to be the most beautiful stone in the world, though, sadly, not many people ever had the chance to see it. It can grant wishes to the owner by taking power from the moon and the Great Sea._

_‘The Gypsy Wish-Granting Stone has no origin explanation, with less to none evidence of its existence, but it might have connection to the Cintamani Stone for Romani people (also spelled Romany, Roma, Hindi: रोमानी and also known as Gypsies) and culture originated in Northern India, presumably the Rajasthan region, which is in approximate area where the Cintamani Stone is originated. Some mythologists believe that the Gypsy Wish-Granting Stone is in fact a fragment of the Cintamani Stone allegedly making it back into our world from the hidden kingdom of Shambala, which is also a mythical kingdom. There are various ideas about where this society is located, but it is often placed in Central Asia, north or west of Tibet. Ancient Zhang Zhung texts identify Shambhala with the Sutlej Valley in Punjab, India. Mongolians identify Shambhala with certain valleys of southern Siberia. In Altai folklore, Mount Belukha is believed to be the gateway to Shambhala. Modern Buddhist scholars seem to now conclude that Shambhala is located in the higher reaches of the Himalayas in what is now called the Dhauladhar Mountains around Mcleodganj. The current Dalai Lama manages the Tibetan Government in Exile from Mcleodganj._

_‘But wherever the hidden kingdom of Shambhala is located, when the Romani people migrated to Europe during the Middle Ages (circa 6th-11th century), it is believed that they took a fragment of the Cintamani Stone with them.'_

Lukas still stared at the text after he'd finished reading the whole article, his mind reeling hard.

...hypnotizingly mystic colors which can be changed to various shades of blue, green, or sometimes other colors when sunlight reflects different angles of the stone...

...can grant wishes to the owner by taking power from the moon and the Great Sea...

_**The Gypsy Wish-Granting Stone.** _

Where the fuck did he get that stone?!

But-but-...whoa! Lukas had goosebumps. This is too much. Fucking hell. How could this happen? How could this even be possible? Those are myths, they're simply folklores. Does he dare claiming that he'd seen it with his own eyes, let alone saying that he'd testified its potential and proved true?!

Lukas felt the need to sit down, so he walked over to a sofa and sat on it, taking in many deep breaths before re-reading that part again.

After finishing it, he still felt as shocked as the first time. Lukas stared at a bookshelf but seeing nothing. According to Bastian, he's the one who bought it for the Bavarian as a birthday present but the blonde said that he's the one who chose it so they might have bought it in Ibiza. Then he gave it to Bastian on the eve of his birthday and that night Lukas in another reality made a wish, if he could call it that. His wish was granted and he woke up here.

What was his wish that made everything the way it is now? Lukas really wanted to know what was in the other Lukas' mind at the time.

Anyway, how's that fucking possible anyway? But he could find no better explanation, it's the stone around Bastian's neck, that must be it, he fucking knows it!

Lukas' heart beat fast. If that's all it takes, he could simply take the gem, make another wish and he'd wake up again back in his own reality?

Is it that simple?

Lukas stood up and walked around looking for more books relating to the Gypsy Wish-Granting Stone or the Cintamani Stone, but found none, so he looked for more books about mythical gems, still none.

At last he took the books, including the Michio Kaku's one, to the cashier, feeling his gut churn as he walked back home.

***

He met Bastian again in Warsaw in early October for a Euro 2016-qualifying match against Poland.

Lukas had planned this scene since the day he discovered about the potential of the gem. After they had normal greeting sex, which was still as hot as fuck, literally, the Pole lay with his arm around Bastian whose head was on Lukas' chest and asked, "Did you bring the necklace I gave you?"

He could feel Bastian frown in his arm, "my birthday present, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah. Why?"

"Can I see it?" Lukas almost held his breath.

"Umm...," the blonde moaned lazily and Lukas thought he's going to procrastinate but then he shifted and got out of bed.

Bastian returned with the necklace in hand, his naked body illuminated under the LED light looked so beautiful. "What of it?" He handed the pendant to the Pole and flopped back down on the other's torso again.

"Umm," Lukas' heart beat in a quick rhythm, holding the small rugged gem up against electric light, the malachite-colored stone slowly swung above him.

It didn't change colors, though.

"It won't change colors under electric light, only sunlight has that power over it," Bastian said as he's also looking at the stone. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Lukas swallowed. But when it didn't exhibit the mystic-color display, it looked like a normal jewel. "Can I borrow it?" He blurted out.

He could feel Bastian frown against his chest again. "Why?"

"I wanna test the colors it could change to," he lied, though that's also part of the plan.

"I test that all the time." Bastian shifted onto his stomach but still putting his chin on Lukas' shoulder, his fingers trailed featherly over the Pole's chest and Lukas squirmed. "Looks like it's infinite."

"Still."

"Yeah, you can have it." The blonde kissed his shoulder lovingly. "You bought it anyway."

The Pole didn't say anything but kept staring at the stone.

 

That night long after Bastian had fallen asleep in his arms, Lukas still looked at the jewel swinging above him like he's hypnotized by it, and it hadn't even started shifting colors yet.

It's a Gypsy Wish-Granting Stone, he knew it must be it. Just a wish, and he could get out of here: out of this universe where he had Bastian as his lover, of this room where he had the blonde sleeping by his side...

Just a wish, and everything, Bastian in particular, would be whisked away. He knew the stone could do that, he just had to close his eyes and when he wakes up tomorrow, everything would be the same, or rather, would never be the same.

Is he really ready to leave?

It's not about 'hows' anymore, now it's about 'whys', why would he ever want to go back anymore when he has everything he's ever wanted? Now, in this room, next to him.

Lukas turned to look at Bastian who's sleeping soundly, arm around Lukas's torso, head on his shoulder, his lips parted slightly and his blond hair a bit messy and this time, the thought of leaving was even scarier than the last time he'd tried to escape this reality on a yacht in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea outside Bodrum.

Lukas closed his eyes.

And simply put the pendant on the bedside table.

Turning around to put his other arm around Bastian, he nuzzled up to the Bavarian, kissed him softly on his forehead and inhaled the smell of him like he wanted to remember this moment forever.

And he wouldn't let Bastian go, not now...

...And maybe not ever...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Cintanami Stone is a real myth, I mixed information I found on many websites and you can google it.
> 
> The Gypsy Wish-Granting Stone, though, I thoroughly made that up.


	15. Chapter 15

When Lukas returned to London after the international break, he took the pendant with him.

Its colors kept shifting under sunlight only just like Bastian said, mostly in shades of blue or green. The other color that he'd seen the most frequent was red, especially when it's encompassed by Arsenal kits.

But Lukas never made a wish, he kept the necklace in a drawer of his bedside table mostly and only took it out on rest days so he could look at the changing colors as he strolled around London, it unwillingly changed to red, brown, or black, but mostly opting for staying in the color of Lukas' eyes.

Autumn faded into winter eventually and the trees had leaves no more. Lives went on in London, Cologne and Munich. After the last international call-up of the year which they had Euro-qualifying matches with Gibraltar and Spain, Bayern Munich had a UCL match against Manchester City in England. Since Arsenal’s match against Borussia Dortmund, again, is the next day, Lukas decided he'd go to support Bastian.

So he called the blonde and flew to Manchester. He told him that he'd meet at Etihad Stadium then he could come to London with him if he wanted to watch the match against BVB and flew back to Munich the day after. Bastian agreed.

What he hadn't expected was what Bastian brought from Germany with him.

"Dad!"

Lukas' jaw dropped the moment he looked up from looking for a VIP seat assigned to him. Louis dashed to him, grinning widely. "Louis?!" Lukas blurted out in surprise as the blond boy jumped him. "What are you doing here?!"

"Surprise, dad!" Louis hugged his neck as Lukas scooped him up.

"Where's your mommy?" The Pole looked for Monika but couldn't find her in the VIP zone.

"Mommy isn't here."

That caught Lukas off guard. "What do you mean by mommy isn't here?”

"Well," Louis shrugged, "I came with Schweini."

This time Lukas' eyes went wide. "You...mean Schweini took you from Cologne?"

"Yeah, he called and asked mommy whether he could take me to England, explained that he'd take me to Manchester and that you'd be here, then we all would go to London to cheer you on." Louis looked genuinely excited. "We'll go to London, right, dad?"

Lukas didn't know whether it’s because he'd never taken his son to London that's why Louis was so energetic by the idea, that seemed unlikely but if it's true, he's a very awful father. "Yeah, of course, we'll go to London." Then he realized something. "Hey, who have you been with before I arrived?" Since Bastian's supposed to be in the changing room down the tunnel, who'd been taking care of this monkey?

"It's Jonas." Louis turned to look for someone and waved at a guy in a corner of the VIP zone who waved back at him. Lukas looked at him and the guy also nodded in greeting which the Pole nodded back. From his uniform, he might be a Bayern Munich staff. Bastian might have asked him to look after Louis when he's not around to do so.

"Okay, stay here, I need to talk to him a bit." Putting Louis down, he walked over to the staff, asked and thanked him. Like he'd thought, Bastian asked him to look after Louis until Lukas arrived.

The match started and they cheered Bayern Munich on together, they groused about Benatia's red card, complained about the referees then rejoiced over Alonso's goal and Lewandowski's five minutes later. Half-time found Lukas taking selfies with his son and munching snacks Bastian had Louis put in his rucksack. Then the second half started and they kept commenting on both Bayern's and City's players and techniques.

As the game drew to a close and Bayern Munich was a goal ahead, Lukas was certain they're going to have a wonderful celebration tonight.

Well, not until Aguero squashed that dream down, twice, first with a draw, then a winning goal, completing his hat-trick flawlessly.

It was a beautiful game nonetheless.  
  
The game had occupied his mind until Lukas forgot the question he had before, how could Bastian actually deprive Monika of Louis?

They got down to the waiting room inside for Bastian to finish changing though he's actually on the pitch for only ten minutes after being subbed for Ribery and due to his chronic injury.

It's 10 p.m. when Bastian showed up and Lukas couldn't help a smile from breaking on his face. "Basti." The Pole stood up. Turning in his direction, the Bavarian smiled widely in return. They walked over to each other and Lukas - totally forgot that Louis was also there - grabbed the blonde and kissed him wholeheartedly on the lips, the kiss that's worth all the time they'd been apart.

Well, it's not that long ago, though, seeing that they'd just had an international call-up, like, last week.

When they broke away eventually, Bastian hissed against the Pole's lips, slight panic in his olive-colored eyes, "Luki, Louis is here."

Lukas stiffened, heck, he'd forgot about that, as well as that there were other people in the room. The Pole turned around and saw Louis looking at them amusedly. Lukas' cheeks turned pink. "Hey, buddy," he covered up the embarrassment with liveliness. "Are you ready to go?"

They stayed over in Manchester for a night since it's too late to catch a flight, the three of them in the same room. Lukas found it weird, he hadn't slept like this for a very long time, on one side of a king-side bed with his son in the middle and his partner on the other side. The difference was that this time it's Bastian, not Monika.

They looked like a happy family still, and the point was, Louis didn't mind at all.

His heart skipped a beat for that.

When Louis was already asleep, Lukas dragged the blonde out of bed and asked, "How could you persuade Monika to allow Louis to come here with you? I thought you and her weren't really on good terms."

Bastian smiled sweetly. "She's not very stubborn if you know how to tackle her. She wants Louis to be happy, you can be sure of that, and I guess she thinks it's time to let everything be. It is ill striving against the stream, they say."

"But, how?" He’s still bewildered.

"I called her and asked her whether it'd be alright if I'm to take Louis to Manchester with me," Bastian said slowly. "I told her that you'd be there, and then all of us would go to London to cheer on you on a UCL-match against Borussia Dortmund. I'd be the one who pick him up from Cologne as well as drop him off so she needn't be worried," he paused.

"And what did she say?"

"Well, she sounded shocked when she realized it's me on the phone." He chuckled. "After the offer, she contemplated until at one point I thought she wouldn't let me have him," he paused again. "She said she had to look at the schedule first."

"And?"

"After about half a day, she called me back and said okay, to my surprise as well. I think that she thinks Louis, at seven years of age, is old enough to be out of the country without his mother for once – or actually with me, that is - as well as to understand a lot of things, like why you aren’t with his mother but are with me instead. I think he could decide that for himself whether he wants this or not, maybe she asked him whether he wanted to come.”

“He’s very smart, way smarter than you think,” Lukas murmured.

“I know that, actually.” The Bavarian grinned, the Pole smiled back pleasantly.

"So you picked him up from Cologne?"

"Yes, I picked him up from Monika's house yesterday then flew straight from Cologne to here."

"Where did you stay last night?"

"Cologne. Your parents' house."

"My parents' house?" Lukas' eyes went wide. Well, he didn't know what his parents had to say to their relationship, no one had mentioned it during his stay in the summer hols, but if Bastian could come and go there as he's pleased with their grandson, he doubted they would have a problem with that.

"Yeah. Why not?" the Bavarian looked at him oddly. "We took a flight to here, there's only a Germanwing flight in the afternoon. Good thing I'm still injured and not in the starting eleven otherwise Pep would've killed me."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why, Luki, you don't know?" Bastian's lips quirked up as he leaned in for a kiss. "It's a surprise." As the blonde's mouth sealed his, Lukas felt a very strong urge to devour him. Deepening the supposedly gentle kiss, he turned it into a passionate one in no time. Pushing Bastian until the other's back hit the wall behind, he pushed his leg in between the blonde's legs and ground against his groin. A moan slipped out of Bastian's mouth irresistibly. "Luki-Luki, wait," pushing him away, the blonde gasped for air. Lukas panted hard, too, leg still wasn't pulled away, Bastian’s crotch burnt on his thigh and he could actually feel the pulsing of his veins. "We can't do this, Luki. Louis is here," Bastian panted against his jaw, breaths ragged and cheeks red,

"Bathroom?" Lukas suggested and trailed his lips down the blonde's neck, scalding breaths against pale skin. Bastian's face turned redder.

"What if Louis wakes up?" Bastian hissed. Lukas stopped, as horny as he's right now, he knew they couldn't really do it here, his son's sleeping soundly after all. Kissing in front of him was one thing, it wouldn't be a role model thing if he woke up and found his dad shagging another guy in their bedroom.

So he bit Bastian's flawless neck, sending the blonde gasp aloud, and consolingly kissed the skin there. "Okay," he said though reluctantly and couldn't help pecking Bastian on the lips one more time before breaking away, pulling his leg out as well this time. Taking in a deep breath, the Bavarian collected himself. Lukas looked at his lover's flushed cheeks, messy blond hair and crumpled shirt adoringly, he held out his hand. "Let's lie with our son, yeah?"

If he thought Bastian's face couldn't be more flushed, he's wrong. "O-Okay." The Bavarian took his hand, the Pole smiled and pulled him to bed. Louis was sleeping soundly and both of them lay by both sides of him. In the darkness, Lukas could still see the glint of Bastian's eyes as he looked at him, he looked back and through their gazes, he realized what 'home is where the heart is' meant.

***

"Look over there, dad, Schweini, I can see the palace from up here!"

They're on London Eye which was lazily rotating up to the sky, Louis was animated as flitting around the capsule like a monkey. Bastian frowned. "Louis, you've gotta stay still, you're disturbing others," he scolded. Louis stopped close to the glass, looking out at the sight below in awe.

"We're so high off the ground," he said. Walking over, Bastian squatted down beside him.

"Aren't you afraid of heights?" he asked. The young Pole shook his head.

"No, I'm not. When I grow up, if I can't be a footballer, I will be a pilot."

Bastian smiled and ruffled his hair. "Of course, you can be a footballer. But pilot is an awesome calling as well."

"What did you want to be when you're a kid, Schweini?" Louis asked, eyes kept looking at the Thames, they're going down now.

"I've always wanted to be a footballer." Bastian looked at the Big Ben Tower. "But in case I couldn't have made it, I had a back-up plan, I would be a skier." He smirked.

"I used to want to be a firefighter," Lukas chimed in. He'd just walked over when he saw that they're having an interesting conversation. He put his hand on Louis' head, Bastian stood up. "It's unbelievable if we're to look at the present from the past, when we're eight like Louis is now, I don't think we could quite imagine how far we'd actually come. It's a strange feeling when you realized that all you had ever dreamed of had become true."

"Absolutely." Bastian smiled. "Being professional footballers in big teams, had just won a World Cup-"

"Standing here with you and Louis, high above the ground." He looked at Bastian and the blonde realized that he didn't talk about any trophy. The Bavarian's cheeks flushed. They're all here together, like a little family.

Their family.

The blonde held out his hand to the side, Louis took it. Lukas imitated his gesture and Louis grasped his hand as well. As the capsule descended to the ground and winter sunlight basked them through the glass, Bastian said, "It’s been an honour loving you."

Lukas smiled. "It's also a privilege having you sharing the rest of my life, Basti."

Louis tugged Lukas' hand and pouted. "You forget me, dad." Lukas, surprised, guffawed.

"My deeply apology, Louis." He squeezed Louis' tiny hand like to reassure him. "Let me say that again then, it's a privilege having you sharing the rest of OUR lives, Bastian Schweinsteiger."

The blonde looked at him, his olive-colored eyes were warm and filled with love, like they tried to convey the words 'thank you, I'm very grateful for welcoming me into your hearty family with wide loving arms'.

Their capsule ended its rotation and everyone slowly disembarked. Louis tugged their hands. "I wanna drink hot chocolate." He looked up at Bastian. "Can we go to Costa, tata Schweini?"


	16. Chapter 16

"Can I take pictures with Wolverine?"

Louis looked very energetic when they arrived at the Marvel Superheroes hall in Madame Tussauds. He’s ecstatic as surrounded by Captain America, Iron Man, Nick Fury, The Hulk, Hawkeye, Spider-Man and Wolverine.

"You like Wolverine the most?" Bastian asked, quirking up his brow. Lukas used iPhone to take pictures of his son with the mutant wax figure.

"Yeah," Louis smiled. "What about you, Schweini? Who do you like the most?"

"Gambit," he answered then paused. "Do you know Gambit?"

"No, who's it?" Louis raised his brow, confused.

"He's one of the X-Men," Lukas answered for him. "He used cards and a staff."

"Cards?" Louis asked.

"Yeah, he throws cards."

"Does that require mutant power?"

"He can change any power to kinetic energy and control them," Bastian answered this time. Lukas really didn't know that tidbit, he'd never read the comics, though, only playing games. "I used to use him all the time when I played Play Station with Tobias," Bastian reminisced and Lukas smiled, that's the same as him, he used to use Omega Red when playing Marvel fighting games all the time.

Then the Pole realized that Louis might have no one to play video games with, he might be able to play with his friends or Justyna's kids occasionally but not very frequently because he didn't have siblings like Lukas and Bastian did.

Suddenly, Lukas felt guilty for him. He must be lonely, and Lukas had the heart, or the lack thereof, to leave him alone too often enough.

"How do you know all that?" Louis asked Bastian.

"I read the comics," the blonde winked. "How about you, Luki? Do you have Marvel favourite character? I remember we used to play Marvel vs Capcom when we're in U21 camp together and you have this character you always used. Let me think-"

"Black Widow," Lukas answered without a second thought. That's not true, though, Black Widow was never in Marvel vs Capcom, he just answered that to annoy Bastian and at least Louis surely must know this character. The Bavarian rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, Luki?"

"I've neither read the comics nor played X-Men games. I used to only play The Avengers," Louis murmured, feeling left out. Lukas' heart clenched and at that moment, he felt so ashamed of not being a good-enough father.

The silence that took place for a couple of seconds led Bastian to hurriedly break it, "I think I have those comics stashed away somewhere in my parents’ house. I didn't remember throwing them away, unless my mom did that. I'll find them for you, alright, Louis?" He asked, and Louis looked even more ecstatic than when he saw the superhero wax figures.

"Can we play games, too, Schweini?"

Lukas' heart raced. Bastian smiled. "I'll find that for you, too, buddy."

"And play with me?" He looked expectant.

"Of course, all three of us. You have to beat us then, it's gotta be fun," the Bavarian said.

As they left the hall for the next, Lukas let Louis lead the way while he caught Bastian's hand. "Thank you for being a father for him instead of me, I don't think I've ever been good enough."

"You're good enough, Luki, actually, you're doing very fine," Bastian squeezed his hand encouragingly. "And I'm not taking that role from you, I'm not doing it instead of you." When the Pole looked at him and quirked his brow questioningly, the blonde blushed and continued, "We’ll be his fathers together, remember?"

***

Monika called to check up on Louis once a day, she had Bastian's number and also called to check on her son with him when they still hadn't met up with Lukas, but after that she only called the Pole. She was very polite on the phone and never complained, only asked when they're expected to be back. Lukas told her their schedule and that Bastian would be the one who escorted Louis back up to the front door of his house in Cologne. Monika just said okay.

After Madame Tussauds, they had late lunch around Baker Street and talked about Sherlock Holmes which Bastian told Louis the brief plotline of the world's most famous detective story and also promised to find him a copy of _‘The Study in Scarlet’_. After that, they also talked about yesterday's match against Borussia Dortmund which Arsenal won but then Louis asked up about Moriarty and the strayed topic got right again.

When Bastian got into a souvenir shop just outside The Sherlock Holmes Museum, Louis asked out of the blue, "does Schweini know that you are not you?"

Lukas turned around to look at his son but Louis was staring ahead, at a crowd of tourists pouring into the detective museum. London was dim even in the early afternoon.

"No, he doesn't," he answered softly. Louis was silent for a couple of seconds, then,

"Do you want to go back, daddy?"

No, he didn't. Lukas' heart wrenched at the mention of the other reality. He hadn't thought about it for a while now since his life in this reality was so blessed, he had everything he'd ever wanted right before him, there was nothing he could ask The Lord for more.

It's like living in heaven on earth already.

He's living the luxury he shouldn't have had, he knew that. He'd never worked for it, a coward like him was never worth of it. He felt really bad for another him who might currently be in another world. What would he be feeling right now living in a world where everything he loved - well, only Bastian, actually - was taken away from him? How would he cope with that truth? He must be wanting to come back here so bad...

And Louis might want his actual father back, too. Not that he’s not an actual father of course, but you know what I mean.

"I don't mind you being here," Louis spoke up suddenly. "For me, you're my dad all the same."

Lukas' heart beat fast to that. Louis still didn't turn around to look at him as he further confined in Lukas, "mom asked me whether I wanted to come here with you and Schweini and I said yes."

Lukas was even more surprised by that revelation. "You did?" He asked, averted his eyes to look at the crowd, too, this time. "What did your mom say?"

"She just said okay, she knows I'm old enough to decide for myself." Damn, somehow he thought Louis was precocious.

"Did you hear your mom talking to Schweini on the phone or what?"

"No, I didn't. She told me that Schweini called and asked whether she'd allow me to go to England with him just for a couple of days for Bayern's match in Manchester and Arsenal's in London. She said that it's my trip so she would let me decide, but if I go, she wouldn't go with me," he paused. "I know it has to be that way but I want to come with Schweini anyway, and of course with you."

Lukas felt his heart clench, the feelings of the blues and bliss were mixing in his chest and he felt confusedly light-headed because he wasn't sure what he should feel, the fact that Louis voluntarily conceded that his parents' relationship was unamenable was heart-aching while that he allowed Bastian to play a part in his life was heartwarming. He looked at his son again and this time, Louis turned to look back at him.

He smiled, and Louis smiled his cloned-smile in return.

When Bastian walked out of the souvenir shop, he handed a copy of _'The Study in Scarlet'_ in German and a figure of Moriarty to Louis. The latter took them in his hands gleefully with a 'thank you,' and also held Bastian's hand the whole way afterwards.

That evening, Bastian and Louis took a flight back to Cologne. Lukas took them to Heathrow by the tube because he didn't know the road around London that good and he thought it might be a nice experience for Louis, being squeezed on the underground like a Londoner. He waited until they checked-in at the counter to kiss his son and Bastian, goodbye.

"See you later, yeah?" Bastian whispered to him, the Pole smiled back.

"Goodbye, Basti," he said.

As he rode the tube home, Lukas decided that this was enough.

He didn't want to go, of course, but he couldn't live this life: the life that didn't belong to him. He couldn't live feeling like he had stolen it from someone, he should return it to the rightful owner. This life wasn't his to live, this intoxicating bliss shouldn't be him who had the blessing to experience. This was somehow wrong and he would go as far as the other universe to make sure that everything was right again.

If he's gotta leave at all, he's gotta leave now before he became too attached to it, addicted to it, and couldn't let go.

He got back home, took the Gypsy Wish-Granting Stone out of the drawer of his bedside table where he always kept it and closed his eyes, made a wish that tomorrow when he wakes up, let it be to his reality and not here…

***

…It didn't work, of course.

The next morning, Lukas woke up to the pendant lying on the bedside table, its color pigeon blue like the table's color. How could he know that he's still in the same reality? Because he surfed the Net, googled his name and it said that his partner was Bastian Schweinsteiger (2010), still.

Lukas frowned, what did he do wrong this time? He opened that gem book he bought that time and turned to that page: the only page he'd read over and over:

_'...It can grant wishes to the owner by taking power from the moon and the Great Sea.'_

Lukas' head snapped up instantly. Well, he'd totally forgot about it, last night he had the moon, but the Great Sea? The only great sea around here that he could think of, taking evidence that the incident did actually happen when he's there: both Bodrum and Ibiza, was the Mediterranean Sea.

He had to go to the Mediterranean Sea.

He should go there before he changed his mind fucking again.

Lukas looked at the calendar, also on the bedside table. Arsenal's next match would be tomorrow with West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns, then he'd have three days before another match with Southampton.

It's gotta be during those three days or not at all.

Chills ran down his spine by both excitement and trepidation. He'd go to Ibiza this time, it's where everything started after all.

He wished it would work, though, Lukas looked at the stone with shaking expectation, otherwise he might never have the guts to pull it again.


	17. Chapter 17

Ibiza was as cold as fuck.

The island looked bleak and deserted, so in contrast with the joyous effervescence it exhibited in summer just four months ago. Lukas looked out the window of the cab as it took him into town from the airport. His agent booked a hotel for him near the marina, he wanted to be as close as possible to the location he stayed last time.

The Pole got out as the cab stopped in front of Hotel Ocean Drive, off-season like this the price was cheap. Winter wind blew in from the sea and Lukas shivered. Bell boy took his Louis Vuitton duffle bag in and Lukas could literally feel the cold vacancy of the building, there were not many guests on a December night like this.

After checking-in, he called Louis, and then Bastian, hoping with dread that it would be the real last time he talked to them in this universe. He said 'I love you' to both of them, the three words he really meant from the deepest pit of his heart. Then, like someone who's going to commit suicide, Lukas determinedly walked out of the hotel, strolling along the esplanade with a, oddly, very calm and peaceful mind.

The sun sank as night crept up faster than in summer, soon the island was illuminated by electric lights creating shadows in the corners like lurking phantoms. The wind was stronger and the weather colder. Lukas looked along the marina, blue eyes tracked dots of yellow artificial lights along the coast until they disappeared behind a hill. The lights danced on the rippled surface of the dark Mediterranean Sea, but they're not the only sources of illumination on the dark island by this hour,

The moon was half tonight.

The Pole looked up at the sky, there were stars here and there but not many because moonlight also stole half of the space tonight if one looked up from earth.

Lukas had dinner at a random restaurant, some small tapas dishes because he wasn't really hungry. His stomach kept churning that he thought even if he's eating the most delicious food in the world right now – which was quite far from what he’s having right now - he'd drop the fork after only a couple of morsels all the same.

After dinner, he strolled along the marina on the way back to the hotel then walked out on a jetty under collateral rows of dim luminous lamps, the sea dark and rippling under him. Lukas stopped at the end of the planked pathway and looked up at the sky once again, the moon hung there in the middle of nowhere surrounded by darkness. It must felt lonely, Lukas thought, the closest twinkling star was as far from it as half way across the night sky.

The Pole took the pendant out of under his sweatshirt, he’d hung it around his neck all the time. He looked at it and its color was the same as the eyes that beheld it: crystal-clear blue. He also looked at the dark sea illuminated with lights both natural and artificial. He clenched his hand into a fist around the stone then closed his eyes.

***

It still didn't fucking work.

Lukas woke up to the cold bed. He's alone, that's obvious, no Bastian in sight but still he knew in the deepest pit of his gut that if it's his real reality, he wouldn't wake up in a hotel in motherfucking Ibiza.

The same hotel he'd fallen asleep in last night, that is.

What the fuck did he do wrong this time?!

Lukas was baffled. Scrambling out of bed, he rummaged through his bag for the book and flipped to the bookmarked page instantly. He read that sentence again,

_'...It can grant wishes to the owner by taking power from the moon and the Great Sea.'_

He'd already done everything according to that: the moon and the Great Sea. What did he miss? Lukas frowned then out of curiosity, he googled for lunar calendar.

It showed that the moon was half last night, just like he saw. It's still a week until it'd be full again. Lukas searched back to The Night and also found that on the night of July the 31st when everything was supposed to happen, the moon was a waxing crescent.

That's less than this, isn't it? If he could make a wish to the stone with the crescent moon, this almost-waxing-gibbous state shouldn't be a problem. Or was it because he didn't go far enough in the Mediterranean Sea? That shouldn't be a problem, too, because That Night he also stayed on a yacht moored to the marina, he woke up to that himself so they couldn't just come back from anchoring in the middle of the sea somewhere, right?

Lukas scratched his head, dumbfounded, didn't know what to do next.

He had breakfast then walked out of the hotel to the jetty where he made a wish last night. The sun didn't shine, hid behind murky clouds and the world was dim. The winds kept blowing and it's as freezing as in London.

He looked up at the sky, and the sea, then the sky again. The atmosphere was gloomy all over and the clouds hung low in the sky. Lukas had the urge to scream to the world because he didn't know what else he could do about it but he stared at a white yacht floating in the middle of the sea, took in a deep breath and resisted.

Walking back and into town, he decided he’s going to the shop he bought the pendant from, he had the address. He knew where it was by checking his credit card payment on the island and had the bank tracked it for him, there's only the odd one out which was expensive enough and wasn't restaurant payment so it wasn't really difficult.

Ibiza Town was as bleak as the marina. Lukas had the address in hand and also his iPhone which he had the location pinned on a map. He followed the route the map led him. There were only a few people passing him by en route, fewer were tourists and some who recognised him stared at him and wondered what the fuck Lukas Podolski was doing in Ibiza alone in winter.

He stopped short when his phone told him that he'd arrived. Lukas' heart raced, he looked for the address number on the building and found that the shop on his right had it.

Its door was closed.

It's possible that it's still too early. Though Lukas had seen some stores already opened on the way, mostly the town was closed, it's off-season and it wasn't really nice staying on the island when even the sun deserted it.

And what if this shop would be closed all winter? Lukas found his heart racing again. He looked around for someone to ask but all the shops on this alley were closed. There's an old man walking towards him so the Pole walked over to him to find that he couldn't communicate in English at all.

And Lukas couldn't speak Spanish except for some very simple words, that's the hardest part of this mission.

Well, might not be the hardest, come to think of it, but hard all the same.

Lukas wandered around there for almost half an hour more, there's only another man using this alley during that period and Lukas had tried talking to him to no avail, he also couldn't speak English. The Pole exhaled loudly as realizing that this plan might not work after all. He thought about returning in the late afternoon to re-check but didn't have high hopes for it. He's about to give up for the time when suddenly an old woman's voice spoke up,

"You didn't do it right, young man."

The Pole spun around immediately. There's a very old woman sitting against the building. She wasn't there before a minute ago so Lukas reckoned she might have just got out of it.

All that actually doesn't matter, the point is that she could speak English.

Lukas didn't even believe his own ears, he didn't know how that was possible. An old Spanish woman in Ibiza could speak English? But hey, who said anything about she being Spanish anyway, don't assume, Lukas scolded himself.

"Are you the owner of this shop?" so asked Lukas. He gestured to the building, his heart drummed in his chest to the high hopes that he might find a way out of this mess.

"I've never owned anything but my life," she answered, "and so are you."

The Pole was bewildered. "How's that even related?" He didn't know whether they're even talking about the same thing now.

"By owning your life, you also own your fate. And by owning your fate, you also could decide whether you'd go right or left the next turn," she said sagely in her husky century-old voice though she even looked older than that. Suddenly Lukas felt chills run down his spine. She fucking knows!

"What did I do wrong?" He blurted out, instantly got to the point. He no longer cares about who she is, if she knows the answer to this, she'd better tell him about it.

"Oh, you did it all wrong, you see...," her voice faded into whisper and Lukas had to step closer to listen, like she's about to confine in him the secret of the universe, which it might actually be, and she didn't want others to hear,

"Upon the lights it feasts, to the waves it harks,  
None other than the greatest of the blue and the brightest in the dark,  
Unless thou fell from the sky in the wheel of time, thou ist gifted,  
Make a wish, yet thou ist not admitted unless thou ist the true."

Lukas stared, at a loss for words. "Do you understand what I said?" the old woman asked. Lukas was about to ask what the fuck all that meant when there's a loud noise to his right. He turned around and found that a lady just dropped her wares, including pots and pans making loud noises through the alley. "Remember that, young man," the old woman’s voice said again. The Pole turned back to talk to her but then he stopped short, his jaw dropped.

The woman wasn't there anymore, no one was there. The spot where the old lady sat a mere second ago was empty, there're only the floor and the wall.

Chills ran down his spine again, the coldest in his life this time.

What the fuck had just happened?!

Lukas turned around and stalked away from there as fast as he could, though he did stop to help a lady with her pots and pans on his way out. He navigated the complicated routes back to the marina without knowing how, and from there he walked straight back to the hotel.

Fucking shit. Was that a ghost?! He still had goosebumps and it's not the wind to blame.

And what was all that supposed to mean?! He repeated the poem in his head over and over from fear that he'd forget it, and when he got to the hotel eventually, he asked for a paper and a pen at the reception to jot down what he tried to remember all the way back.

 _'Unless thou fell from the sky in the wheel of time, thou ist gifted,_  
_Make a wish, yet thou ist not admitted unless thou ist the true.'_

He couldn't remember the first two sentences though he vaguely recalled that they talk about how _'it'_ took power from the moon and the Great Sea, which he'd already known. But after that, what was that supposed to mean? These were the parts he didn't understand so he remembered them clearly, _'unless thou fell from the sky in the wheel of time, thou ist gifted,'_

Lukas frowned. _'...thou fell from the sky in the wheel of time'_? Does that mean one have to do skydiving while making a wish or something? That's fucking ridiculous, though legend had it that the Cintanami Stone did fall from the sky, ancient people didn't have today's technology to jump off a plane or even a cliff and hope to have their bodies still intact when landed.

And _'the wheel of time'_? What does that mean? He only heard the novel of the same name, is that supposed to relate?

And the last sentence, _'yet thou ist not admitted unless thou ist the true’_. He frowned harder, _'the true'_ of what? The true one that _'fell from the sky in the wheel of time'_?

Suddenly the Pole’s eyes snapped wide. He jumped out of bed, hand holding the piece of paper while he dashed to the bedside table to snatch The Book and turned to The Page, again.

_'...It can grant wishes to the owner by taking power from the moon and the Great Sea.'_

_'TO THE OWNER'_

He might be the one who bought this pendant, but he had given it to Bastian on HIS BIRTHDAY, so Bastian should be _'THE TRUE OWNER'_ , isn't it? What's more, suddenly Lukas could solve the puzzle one after another like he's immediately ten times smarter than usual, his eyes went wide as he realized that _'fell from the sky'_ could mean 'to be born' according to some myths. And could in _'the wheel of time'_ mean that he was born on the exact same time, or date, in the wheel that kept spinning perpetually, which meant that _'thou'_ would also have the power if _'thou'_ was born on that day in the wheel of time?

Lukas' eyes went wider to the realization that hit him. But the poem said _'unless'_ , which meant that this feature wasn't really necessary and only the moon and the Great Sea should be enough. But like in this case, it's a crescent-moon night on July the 31st so normally the wish might not work but because it's Bastian's birthday that night - it's beyond midnight by the point Lukas gave him the present - that must be why it still worked out well, too well.

Lukas paced to and fro around in the room. There're still questions in his mind, how could it be that Bastian wished him to switch the universes? If Bastian was the only one who could make a wish that night, what did he wish?

There's the only way to find out.

He called Bastian, it rang three times before the other end picked up. "Hey, Luki," he greeted.

"Hey," Lukas greeted back with a racing heart. "Are you free?"

"Yeah, of course," Bastian said. "What's up?"

"Umm, you remember the night we're in Ibiza and I gave you the present?" He went straight to the fucking point. He could feel Bastian frown.

"You mean the pendant? Yeah, of course, I remember that," he paused. "When will you return it to me anyway?" He snickered.

"Do you remember making any wishes that night?"

"Well, yeah," Bastian's voice sounded skeptical this time. "You told me to make a wish, because the owner of the shop told us that they said that the stone could grant wishes, remember? It's just some ridiculous myths but you said since it's my birthday, I should try anyway, so I made a wish."

Lukas' heart beat fast, he couldn't believe that he's about to find out. "Schweini, what did you wish?"

Bastian's reluctant. "Well, you know, they said that if you tell your wish to others, it wouldn't be true," he teased.

"Basti, please," Lukas pleaded and he knew Bastian must hear desperation in his voice for he sounded alarmed,

"Luki, what's wrong?"

"Please tell me what you wished that night," he whispered. The Bavarian hesitated for a couple of seconds like he's evaluating the situation, then he answered coyly,

"Well, I wished for you to have whatever you wanted. I was already happy as it was, so I wished for you instead."

The Pole's eyes went wide. What? So Bastian wished to give him whatever he wanted? Then it all comes down to him again, doesn't it? His other self must wish something that made the both of them end up like this.

What is it?

"What did I wish?" Lukas pondered to the phone pathetically, he could feel that Bastian's bewildered. He didn't expect the Bavarian to answer that question, though, because he might have just wished it in his head, but then Bastian blurted out,

"Why is that so important anyway?" He asked. "Though I remember that before we fell asleep, you did say something about 'I wonder what it would be like if we had never acted on how we feel towards each other,' about what would happen if that day neither of us followed our hearts. You said that if you didn't choose this path that night, you might be married to Monika by now and have half a dozen kids. I laughed and hit you and said 'don't you ever think about it'," he recited the story. Though the contents were jolly, nobody laughed, even Bastian knew this was a serious matter while Lukas was actually in a state of dumbstruck after hearing what the blonde had just said. "Now Poldi, tell me what's going on," Bastian's tone was dead serious as well this time, then he kind of realized something. "Where are you anyway?"

"Ibiza," Lukas answered dizzily, his mind running a mile a minute right now.

"Ibiza?!" Bastian was baffled. "Right now?! What the fuck are you doing in Ibiza?!"

It clicked, didn't it? He didn't actually know how the stone worked but the way the wishes matched, Lukas here wondered what it would be like to live without Bastian while he himself in the other universe wondered the other way around. And it happened on the same day - on Bastian's birthday. It might have been how the stone chose him, this Lukas Podolski, instead of him in other millions of universes, that's why it brought him here instead of others...

"Basti," the Pole took in a deep breath. This is it then, he couldn't hold the secret on his shoulders alone anymore. He felt rather than heard Bastian holding his breath on the other end of the line as he whispered, "I have something to tell you."


	18. Chapter 18

Lukas told everything that had happened since the day he woke up and found Bastian in his bed.

The Bavarian listened to him, he didn't know whether Bastian believed it. When Lukas finished the whole story at last, they had a full minute of uncomfortable silence as the Pole waited for the story to sink in. Then the blonde spoke up, "What did you just say?" He sounded uncertain, voice shook around the edge.

"It's true, every word, Schweini," he confirmed steadfastly. "I'd never joke with you about something like this, it's too lame."

"If this is true, what happened to my Lukas? I mean, another Lukas," Bastian whispered apprehensively, no teasing nor joking tone in his voice, it's truly terrified and Lukas knew Bastian believed his story. He closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Schweini, but I don't know."

They're silent again, it took Bastian almost a full minute before he spoke up, "so, in that reality, are you...?"

"Married to Monika? Yes," he said and could feel Bastian close his eyes.

"And children...?" Bastian dreaded this, Lukas realized in that instant from his tone. He'd never known this to be Bastian's fear. Did he dread it because he couldn't give Lukas children?

"No, I still have only Louis," he hastily answered and could tell that Bastian was relieved.

And he knew this question was going to come, he just knew it, "Do you love Monika there?"

"No," he had thought about this for a time, his answer was resolute.

Bastian seemed to think about this a lot, then, "this is insane," he whispered.

"I know," he replied. "I would never believe it myself if it doesn’t happen to me. It's like in a fantasy fiction."

"I want to see you," the blonde blurted out suddenly.

Lukas reckoned he couldn't just leave now when he just dragged Bastian into this together, to let him know the secret of the universe that he shouldn't acknowledge. "I'll check my schedule and tell you later, okay?"

"I have a match on December the 6th," Bastian said, his voice shook and Lukas' heart sank, "can we please meet before that?"

So he had to hurriedly check his schedule, he also had a match with Stoke City on that day. "I can go to Munich on December the 4th-"

"I can go to London," Bastian cut him off, "I can go now, actually, or you want it to be Ibiza?"

This is a matter of most importance for Bastian right now, he realized. Arsenal’s game on December the 3rd would be with Southampton in London so that'd be no problem. "You can come to London. I'll take the first flight out of here."

***

They met at Lukas' house.

Lukas was anxious, despite the fact that they stayed in this house together just a couple of days ago. But now the atmosphere was different, though not hostile, and Lukas had no idea what the blonde would react to his revelation in person.

Bastian came, and the first thing Lukas asked was that whether he's hungry. He took the blonde out to a restaurant nearby and mostly they ate in silence, the matters surely couldn't be discussed in public, people would think the certain two German footballers had gone nuts.

When they went back to the house, the first thing Lukas did was to unlock Bruno's cage, he needed moral support right now and who could provide that better than a dog? When he walked back to the living room with Bruno wagging his tail in tow, Bastian had already turned on the telly and sat on a couch. Lukas came up and sat next to him, Bruno jogged over to the Bavarian and greeted him cordially with wet nose and wagging tail. "Hey, Bruno," Bastian greeted the dog, petting his head absentmindedly. Putting his muzzle on the blonde's thigh, the Labrador Retriever looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. "Don't look at me like that, you mutt, I don't have food." Lukas guffawed.

"He doesn't want food, he just wants your attention," he said.

"He's so much like you," said Bastian. The Pole was taken aback. There's silence then the blonde spoke up again, "let's finish what we intend, shall we?"

Lukas' heart beat in a shocking rhythm, "okay?" Bastian turned around.

"So, you said you're not Lukas?" His face was unreadable but his voice shook around the edge.

"I am Lukas," he said, "but not the one you know, per se. My knowledge about everything was almost the same except that I..., umm, was never your lover."

"Do you regret doing it?" Bastian blurted out. Lukas' eyes went wide.

"What?! No, Schweini, what are you talking about?!"

"You said that you woke up and found me next to you and you were really shocked. I didn't know that. If I knew before, I'd never have made you uncomfortable by forcing you into it-"

"Basti, how the hell could you know if I didn't tell you?! And I wasn't uncomfortable, it's just weird at first because I'd never done that with you before and it's quite mind-blogging seeing you in a new light, to touch you, kiss you that way-" Lukas stopped, cheeks flushed red. He didn't mean to say embarrassing things like that, it's a slip of tongue.

"It's...," Bastian closed his eyes like he's trying to compose, "fuck, this is embarrassing." He still couldn't compose.

"Listen, this is not your fault, alright? If you're thinking that. It's never about you, it's about me."

"Why didn't you tell me before?" The blonde opened his eyes. Lukas cringed from their fierceness.

"I don't know what to say, I don't know what had just happened so I was kind of play along. I've never intended to make a fool of you or anyone, it's just that I have to figure the mystery out myself first before I can explain."

"I recall you asked strange questions that day when you woke up," Bastian mumbled, "and many times after that in Ibiza. It's like you didn't remember what happened the day before most of the times. I found it strange but who would think much of it? You looked and acted as much like the real you-"

"I am the fucking-real Lukas Podolski, Basti," the Pole cut off.

"But you're not Lukas Podolski who loves me."

That's it, that's the sentence that broke it. Lukas lunged forward, knocked Bastian onto his back on the couch and kissed him fiercely.

And Bastian didn't protest, he kissed back intensely so and before they knew it, they're fumbling with each other's clothes. Lukas had never felt anything this strong, he wanted to touch every patch of skin on Bastian's body, kiss every crook and corner of the blonde's joints, to devour him. He's blinded, not by lust, but by love.

Just to prove to Bastian that his statement wasn't one bit true, to show him how much he actually cared.

Lukas yanked Bastian's shirt off hastily and his hands roamed all over his torso. The Bavarian gasped and yanked Lukas' jeans off as well, it's the Pole's turn to gasp when Bastian's hand touched his groin.

It didn't feel the same somehow, not because they'd never had sex on a couch in his living room before, they didn't touch each other the last time because Louis was also here. Though this time, aside from them, there's also another in the house and that was Bruno.

Well, umm, Bruno. Lukas broke away from the fervid kiss and looked to the side. Bruno was still there absolutely, sitting on his butt staring at them wide-eyed with interest. "Looks like we have a voyeur here," Bastian murmured and Lukas' cheeks flushed. He turned around to look at the Bavarian under him, Bastian's cheeks also flushed crimson, he looked shy.

"Do you want me to shoo him away?" Lukas asked teasingly, the blonde quirked up his brow.

"I didn't know you're such an exhibitionist. Is it your normal disposition or it comes with the new Lukas?" he teased. Lukas laughed.

Well, it didn't feel the same because it's almost the first time in five months that he felt like he was actually himself, not that he'd pretended all the way before, but it's the first time that he knew Bastian was making out with 'him', not his other self.

It's because of that cognizance that made him feel high.

"Go away, Bruno," he turned to scold the dog and Bruno got up reluctantly and shambled away, tail between hind legs like a dog who had just been punished by sweets deprivation. Bastian snickered at the dog's dejection.

"You're a cruel owner," he mumbled, fingers carding through Lukas's short hair, his olive-colored eyes bore into the Pole's and they seemed like having a thousand words inside. 'Why are you looking at me like that?' Lukas wanted to ask, but instead he dove into the provenance of all of his overwhelmed emotions, kissing away all the doubts on Bastian's pale skin, licking off all the uncertainties he might have in his mind.

When Lukas entered him, gently and slowly, Bastian looked at him and a droplet of tear ran down his cheek.

The Pole stopped dead. "Basti, what's wrong?" He almost pulled out instantly. "Did I hurt you?" he's alarmed.

"No," the blonde caught Lukas' shoulder to hinder him from pulling away. The Pole was still, Bastian ran his hand along the other's shoulder, down his side to his waist and hip and another droplet of tear ran down his cheek. "If I were the other me, what a heartbroken life must I live without you?" he whispered.

"It's not like that," Lukas mumbled while resuming pushing in, Bastian gasped. "Actually, fans still called us Schweinski there, we're really close and sometimes we acted like couples more than when I'm with Monika and you with Sarah," he tried to console him. Bastian frowned.

"I'm still with Sarah there?"

"Yeah, as far as I know, it's been long seven years," Lukas breathed heavily.

"The only reason I'm still with her must be because I don't care to look for others. Not that I think she's the one or anything, I've never loved her from the start," he paused, panted, hesitated a bit before confessing the crime in a low voice, "I only thought about you when I was with her."

"I don't know whether you could also say that for the other Schweini," he replied hoarsely, Bastian and Sarah in the other reality looked as much in love in the past seven years that it's quite unthinkable that Bastian had never actually loved her and was always in love with him.

"How close are we?" The blonde heaved, Lukas was accelerating the rhythm now.

"We eat, we play, we love, sans kissing and fucking, of course," Lukas joked. Bastian laughed. "So, stop crying, okay, baby? You in the other universe isn't that misfortunate." He kissed a droplet of tear off Bastian's cheek, it's salty. The Bavarian caught Lukas' nape with his hand and placed a desperate kiss on the lips.

"Why can't you love me in that life, Luki?" Bastian huffed against the Pole's lips, he's jealous of...what? Monika? In the other universe? On behalf of his other self? This is so messed up. Lukas bit his lower lip as thrusting in all the way, making the blonde scream aloud.

"Fucking hell, Schweini, I've never loved someone else," he heaved, kissing Bastian's cheek as he whispered against the soft pale skin, "All my life, both this and that, it's been only you."

 


	19. Chapter 19

Bastian stayed in London until the day after Arsenal's game with Southampton.

It's the best moment Lukas had ever experienced here second to their time in Ibiza, actually, it's even better because Lukas didn't have to lie about anything now. He felt free to be himself and Bastian was okay with it. He came back from training and found the blonde waiting for him with home-cooked dinner, to Lukas' surprise because he never actually cooked since he always had Monika doing that for him. Though he noticed that this Lukas' kitchen had lots of seasoning and kitchenware, which was in contrast with his London house in the other universe.

What's more, he'd never known Bastian could cook, and was also good at it.

They ate in mostly, played games and when the nights came, Lukas' body entwined around Bastian as they made love over and over.

It's the four happiest nights of his life, in both this world and the other world.

He knew it couldn't last, that's why he told Bastian the truth, so that the Bavarian could help him to go back. He DIDN'T want it to last, as reluctant as he was, he had to go back to his real life and return this life to the other him. He didn't belong here, and he couldn't live more like this, he's drowning deeper and deeper so this had to stop, otherwise he'd never be able to let it go.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to let Bastian go.

The last night they spent together in his London house, Bastian asked, "what will you do when you get back there?"

Lukas knew what this was all about. "Follow my heart." He'd thought about this before so he's quite certain what he wanted and didn't want to do. He knew Bastian wanted to hear this answer and he had it perfectly on tap for him.

"What about Louis?" He asked.

"He'll cope with that eventually," Lukas answered, "just like he's coped with us here."

"It might be more difficult for him there because in this world you and Monika had never actually married...," his voice trailed off. The Pole caught Bastian's hand beside him reassuringly.

"It will work," he whispered. "We’ll make it work."

"What do you think the other Lukas is doing, if he's actually in your reality?" The blonde asked curiously, the Pole quirked his brow.

"Trying to win you back?" He guessed, he would do the same if he's in the other's shoes.

"You know what?" Bastian whispered, agreed, "I bet he does."

***

"Would you like to go to Munich with me?" Lukas asked Louis on the phone one day. The end of the year was creeping up and Louis' school would have Christmas break soon, the last time Bastian snatched him from Cologne, he had to take leave for three days.

"When, dad?" Louis sounded energetic.

They arranged to take him out of Cologne on December the 15th, Arsenal had a match with Newcastle United the day before and wouldn't have the next until December the 21st with Liverpool, so Lukas had a lot of time while Bayern Munich would have the last match of 2014 with Mainz on December the 19th. Their next match after that was as far as January 30th 2015.

Lukas envied Bastian that much, he'd say it aloud.

And he planned to take Louis to Munich to surprise Bastian this time. He flew to Cologne on December the 14th and stayed a night there, then they took a flight to Munich and knocked on Bastian's door on a Monday's winter morning.

Bastian's wide bewildered eyes were just worth it all, topped it off by the jolly, "guten morgen, tata Schweini," from Louis.

Bastian was about to go out to training, he'd have a match with SC Freiburg tomorrow on the home ground. Louis decided he wanted to watch Bayern Munich's training so they all went together. Their friends didn't look much surprised when Lukas showed up at Allianz Arena but were a bit amazed to also see Louis there, without Monika even.

So they sat in the stands watching the team training on the ground. Louis and Lukas chatted about techniques the team used and when they're finished, Louis was allowed to access the pitch, Lukas followed him.

They kicked around for a bit waiting for Bastian to shower. When he finished, he drove them all to a Bräuhaus near Marienplatz for dinner: typical Bavarian cuisine. The sun set early in winter and the cold weather made them sprint straight back home after that.

It's not the first time that Lukas stayed over at Bastian's place in this reality, though in the other reality he had never had a chance since Bastian always lived with Sarah for as long as he remembered. He used to sleep over here when Germany National Team had a match with Scotland on September during the first international call-up after the World Cup. He guessed Louis had never come here since Monika was always around him. Once at home, Bastian showed Louis old X-Men comics to the young Pole's overzealousness. And their family time? The Bavarian dug out Marvel vs Capcom Play Station's game he used to play with Lukas in U21 camp.

Louis loved Gambit so much as well as Bastian, he kept using him in battles and was very good at it.

The night wore on and it's time for bed, Lukas tucked Louis in for the night in the guestroom while he'd sleep in Bastian's room, just like they'd done at Lukas' house in London. Bastian snuggled up against him as they fell asleep together and Lukas hugged him tight, he knew they didn't have much time left but he surely wouldn't let him go tonight.

It almost seemed like Christmas had arrived early for Lukas, starting now because at first he wasn't sure that he could spend Christmas holidays with them, he had a match on Boxing Day after all so he just wanted to spend time with his family as much as he could.

The next day they went to cheer Bastian up for the match against SC Freiburg, after this Bastian would be free for two days before another match with Mainz, they stayed at home and made it as sweet as possible, they did everything together as usual: cook, eat, then play games and watch TV.

After the match with Mainz, they all flew to Liverpool for Arsenal's match there and then to London afterwards, and that's how the three of them spent holidays together for a couple of days before they flew back to Cologne for Christmas. They had a homey family reunion at Lukas' parents' house, both Justyna's family and his, both Bastian and Monika were there and they're very polite towards one another.

Lukas had no idea what's happening at all until a guy with blond hair arrived to pick Monika up after dinner. He greeted everyone at the table and everyone accepted him cordially. He also shook hand with Lukas and that's when he realized that Monika had a new lover.

That truly boggled his mind.

He asked Louis about the guy afterwards and Louis just said, "Oh, that's Silas, mommy's boyfriend," deadpannedly.

It boggled his mind even more that Louis didn't seem to be fazed a bit by it. Lukas felt something churn in his stomach and he realized that must be how Monika felt when seeing him with Bastian, it must take a while to get accustomed to the sight though for him it didn't feel like jealousy, it just felt weird.

Louis stayed with Monika for a while then Bastian took him to London again on January the 3rd, Lukas had a match with Hull City the next day and they came home to celebrate Arsenal's victory. After dinner which Bastian cooked, Lukas dragged Bastian to a corner and asked with a dry voice, "Will you go to Ibiza with me?"

He had planned all this, he'd checked the lunar calendar and marked the date of the next full moon, it's on the night of January the 5th.

Bastian looked at him, but it's not like he looked at him. Lukas looked back calmly. They both knew what this meant, he'd told Bastian that he's the rightful owner of the stone and was the one who could wish upon it and make it work. Bastian knew what he had to do to finish this, he had the right to end everything.

The blonde still looked at him blankly, then he asked curtly, "after all this time, you still want to go back?"

Oh, what now? "Schweini, I told you I had to go back. It's not about what I want, it's about what I have to do. Of course I never want to leave you, not now, not ever, but I can't steal someone else's life." He closed his eyes.

The Bavarian was silent, Lukas wanted to ask what problem he had with that anyway since for him it would be the same, better even because he'd have his same old and real Lukas back. Lukas was the one who should be upset because things wouldn't be the same for him, he wouldn't get out of this unscathed, he wouldn't go back the same person as when he arrived.

"Okay," Bastian answered and the Pole felt fingers glide across his cheek. His eyes snapped open and he found the blonde looking at him like he understood Lukas' predicament. "If it has to be done anyway, let's get it done. What are you going to tell Louis if we're to take him to Ibiza in winter? I did promise to take him to an island but in this season was outrageous." He wrinkled his nose.

"Actually, Louis knew what's going on," Lukas replied. Bastian's jaw dropped.

"What?!" He hissed, "You told Louis about what happened?"

"Well, actually, he's the first and only one who noticed that I was...different," he mumbled.

"He noticed it?" Bastian couldn't believe his own ears.

"He asked me the first night I arrived in Cologne from Ibiza who I was." Lukas smiled at his son smartass-ness. "Even you couldn't tell me apart after spending time alone with me in Ibiza for four days."

"I would never compete with Louis' brain for sure," he murmured apprehensively.

"So...," Lukas still wasn't sure, "we'll go to Ibiza tomorrow?"

Bastian pursed his lips. "I'll call your agent to book flights for us while you tell Louis," he said and left Lukas for his phone which also had Lukas' agent's number. The Pole walked over to Louis in the living room while Bastian talked to his agent in his room, he didn't know how to start so he sat silently with his son as they watched Ben 10 on Cartoon Network together. When the Bavarian came back, he sat on the armrest next to Lukas, put his arm around the Pole's shoulder and said, "the flight was at 9.20, Heathrow, British Airways."

"We're going to Ibiza tomorrow together, Louis," Lukas said. Louis snapped his head around.

"Ibiza?" He sounded really unsure.

"Yes, Ibiza, buddy." Lukas looked at him. "Do you want to escort me home?"

Louis' eyes went wide this time, he looked between Lukas and Bastian like to evaluate the situation. "You mean...that?" He's even more hesitant. "Does Schweini know now?"

"Yes, I told him. He's a bit upset though when I told him that you found that out by yourself while he actually had no clues." The Bavarian hit him on the back of his head.

Louis looked between the two of them. "Umm, so...you're leaving us?" he then looked down at the floor, his voice faded and Lukas' heart sank immediately. Why does no one want him to leave? This starts to corrode his intention, Louis' dejected face was even worse than Bastian's. The Pole's heart clenched hard in his chest.

"Listen, Louis, I just want to return this life to the other me," he said though wavering now, "you'll eventually get your real dad back. Don't you want that? Don't you miss him?"

Louis still looked at the floor. "I'm not sure anymore."

Fuck this. Lukas bit his lips, why does everything come out like this? "Why? You want that before," his voice faded, too.

"You're a great dad," was Louis' answer.

"I'm sure the other me was better than me." He's really sure about it.

"I...," Louis' voice trailed off, he didn't know what to say. The Bavarian held his hand out to cover Lukas' hand in his lap and he realized he's shaking, he caught the blonde's hand and held onto for dear life. "But I like you," Louis said, looking up at him.

Lukas took in a deep breath, Bastian squeezed his hand encouragingly. The Pole turned to look at the Bavarian to find that he also looked at the floor, even Bastian didn't support him deep down. He turned to look at his son. "I like you, too, buddy, but I still have to return you to your dad-"

"You're my dad!" Louis cut him off, glint of tears in his eyes, "I don't want others! Why do all of you keep leaving me? First you left me for Schweini, now you'll leave me to the other me in your world because you don't want me!" He shouted, jumped out of the sofa and dashed into his room. Lukas shot up from the couch, panicked.

"No, Louis!-"

"Leave him," Bastian's calm voice spoke up, he didn't let go of Lukas' hand and pulled him down to sit back on the sofa. "Talk to him when he calms down. Give him some time," the blonde kissed his cheek and whispered against his skin.

"He's being ridiculous," Lukas said in a low voice which was shaking around the edge.

"Yes, he is, he feels like you're abandoning him again," Bastian nuzzled against his cheek.

"But it's not like that-"

"I know it's not like that, Luki, you don't have to explain it to me." He put his hands around Lukas' shoulder and snuggled up against the crook of his neck. The Pole turned around to kiss Bastian on the forehead.

"You won't be a ridiculous, too, will you?" He asked uncertainly. Bastian snickered and kissed the Pole's neck, it's ticklish and made him goosebump. "Stop doing that, Louis is here," he whispered. The blonde quirked up his brow.

"So?" And he licked Lukas' neck this time, the Pole cringed away immediately.

"Basti!"

Bastian laughed and pulled away, Lukas turned around, smiling, and leaned in to kiss the Bavarian on the lips. Bastian kissed back, smiling, too. "You can go to Louis now," he whispered against Lukas' lips, "he needs you."

The Pole broke away. "Okay." He got up but still didn't let go of Bastian's hand. "Don't you want to come together?"

"You go first," the blonde mumbled and pulled his hand away.

Lukas didn't comment but walking away to the guestroom. Bastian's eyes were after him until his back was out of sight then he got up from the armrest to follow him.

He let Lukas go first so that he wouldn't see him wiping off his tears.

  
Louis was hiding under the duvet as Lukas walked in. The room was dark, the Pole sat on the edge of the bed. Louis was still but he knew his son wasn't asleep, of course. "You know I love you, right? I've told you this before," Lukas started to his lying son. "It's not that I don't love you or choose others over you, neither Schweini nor the other you nor anyone else. It's just that I don't belong here, this isn't my life. I'm living someone else's life and I can't keep on doing that, buddy."

"But you belong here now," Louis' muffled voice could be heard through the duvet, "it is your life now."

"No, it's not," Lukas said and he could hear Bastian walk up to the bed. The Bavarian put his arm on his shoulder as an encouragement again. "I'm stealing someone else's life like now, Louis, and you can't just steal from people, you know that."

With that, Louis was silent, he was contemplating Lukas' words and the Pole left him to it. Bastian sat down beside him on the bed. Finally, Louis took the blanket off him. "Schweini, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say that." He bit his lips. Bastian smiled softly.

"It's okay, buddy. But you have to learn to control your temper better than that in the future. The tongue has no bones but it is strong enough to break a heart so be careful with your words, alright?"

"I'm sorry!" Louis lunged at the Bavarian and squeezed him tight around the waist in a hug that almost knocked all the air out of him. Bastian stroked Louis' head consolingly.

"You're pardoned, buddy," he said.

There was silence before Louis eventually broke away from the embrace, he looked calm enough now as he looked at Lukas. "I'm sorry, dad, I shouldn't have said that, I know you didn't leave me for Schweini and also don't leave me for the other me, I'm just upset." He wiped tears off the corner of his eyes.

"You're pardoned, buddy," Lukas copied Bastian's answer and smiled softly. Louis grimaced.

"So, what are we going to do in Ibiza? Do you know a way to go back now?" He asked.

"Kind of." Lukas as well couldn't breathe properly from thinking about that. "We'll have to try whether it works."

"Okay, I'll go with you," Louis said resolutely.


	20. Chapter 20

Ibiza was still as cold as fuck.

They arrived on the island in the afternoon and took a cab to the hotel Lukas stayed a month ago.

No one really had the heart to do anything and it's freaking cold outside anyway so they stayed in the living room in their suite, playing games that Bastian brought with them. When they're bored, Bastian switched to TV and they watched news for a bit, it's on sports section.

After a couple of football game reports, the news that came up next made Lukas stare.

"Congratulations to Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso for their new child! The surrogate had just given birth to Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso's first biological child. The baby is a boy, 7.6 pounds, very healthy. The footballer couple would take their son to their home in Liverpool." The screen showed Xabi Alonso holding a bundle in his arms with Steven Gerrard by his side as cameras kept flashing. They gazed at the sleeping baby in awe, the look of whipped parents on their faces. "We'll see in the years to come whether their son would look exactly like Alberto Moreno," the newscaster joked.

"Mommy asked whether I would mind if she's to have another baby," Louis spoke up. Both Bastian and Lukas turned to look at him. "I don't mind at all, I've always wanted to have siblings."

Lukas looked at him, and then he looked at Bastian, to find his lover looking down at the floor. He quirked his brow, he always knew Bastian loved children and it's no doubt he would want to have his own. Why they had never discussed about having biological children before was beyond his understanding, seeing that Gerlonso could pull that off just fine to the world's congratulations.

Or they had discussed it before and the other Lukas didn't want another child because he already had Louis? Or Bastian had never brought this topic up because he thought Lukas had already had Louis and didn't want another? Or was it because they thought this, creating a child of parents of the same sex through surrogacy, was too unnatural?

"Mom promised to love me all the same so that's no problem. How about you, Schweini?"

Lukas kept his eyes on Bastian, he knew this question was truly tempting. Bastian flushed and struggled to find the right words, "umm, I-"

"I bet the other me would want another kids, because I also want it," Lukas spoke up and both Bastian and Louis turned to look at him. "Have you ever discussed this before?" He asked.

"Umm, no, I'd never asked because since you already have Louis, that is enough, Louis could as well be my son."

"But I want a little brother!" Louis whined. "Or sister, anything."

"You already have Louis' consent," Lukas smiled and caught Bastian's hand with his. "Talk to him about it, why don't you?"

The Bavarian looked at him, his cheeks still flushed as he nodded slowly. Lukas' heart ached, damn, he's telling a lie if he said he didn't want to really see that happen, of course he wanted to know what his and Bastian's son would look like...Will he have Lukas' crystal clear blue eyes with Bastian's nose? Have bright blond hair and a heart of gold?

He kissed Louis goodbye that night and Louis hugged him tight because he knew it would be the last time. Lukas hugged him back and suppressed the tears. He whispered, "I love you, and will always love you, remember that," in Louis' ears, Louis said the same thing back to him.

He went out to the living room where Bastian was still sitting in the couch. He offered Lukas a can of beer and the Pole took it, he guessed both of them needed alcohols tonight.

They sat watching television in silence, the room was dark save for the lights from the screen. Both didn't want this night to end. Bastian flicked the remote control browsing channels after channels without paying attention to anything in particular. He stopped at a music channel playing Elvis Presley's _'Can't Help Falling In Love'_. They watched the black and white video while sipping beers.

Then the song changed to _'What A Wonderful World'_ Rod Stewart’s version and the slow melody made Lukas' heart clench.

 _'I see trees of green, red roses, too_  
_I see them bloom, for me and you,'_

"Would you like to dance?" he asked Bastian on the spur of the moment. The Bavarian looked at him, amazed.

"Here?"

The Pole held his hand out, Bastian looked at it before putting his on it. Lukas pulled him up, putting his other hand on Bastian's waist sending the other flush crimson. Then he slowly moved: left-right-left-right, just a casual dance, no patterns nor forms. They danced slowly to the sluggish beat,

 _'I see skies of blue and clouds of white_  
_The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night_  
_And I think to myself, what a wonderful world,'_

 _'The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky_  
_Are also on the faces of people going by_  
_I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do_  
_But they're really saying I love you,'_

The Bavarian put his head on Lukas' shoulder as they moved together around the room and the video kept playing,

 _'I hear baby's crying and I watched them grow_  
_They'll learn much more than I'll ever know_  
_And I think to myself, what a wonderful world,"_

And then Lukas kissed him.

It's a desperate kiss, since he knew it's one of their last kisses. When they broke away eventually, the song ended,

_'Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world,'_

The room was dark as the video changed to The Platter's 'The Great Pretender'. Bastian looked at him in the dark, eyes glinting, Lukas looked back at him. They stared at each other in silence waiting for either of them to make the first move, then, slowly, Lukas pulled out the pendant which he had hanging around his neck all the time.

Bastian took it in his hand.

Lukas held his hand out and Bastian put his other free hand on it. Holding it tight, the Pole looked the blonde in the eyes one more time to make sure that what he saw in them was resolution before turning around, leading the way out of their room.

They were silent all the way down the elevator then along the walk on the esplanade, all the time Lukas never let Bastian's hand go. He led them to the same jetty, the path was bright with both the moon and electric lights tonight. Lukas stopped at the end of the jetty and turned to Bastian.

The Bavarian looked at the full moon, and then the dark sea. He loosened his hand, caught the necklace but letting the stone dangle below, the gem sparkled in the moonlight reflecting every ray of it in its dark blue color. Then Bastian slowly closed his eyes.

He didn't say the wish out loud, Lukas looked at him for some time then also closed his eyes and made a wish, just in case Bastian pulled it like last time by casting the wish in his direction.

When he opened his eyes again, Bastian was looking at him.

Lukas' breath hitched at the desperation in the usually-lively olive-colored eyes. Extending his hand to the pendant still dangling in Bastian's hand, the pole took it from him then put it around the Bavarian's neck for him.

He didn't ask what Bastian wished, the blonde said that if the wishes were told, they wouldn't become true, though that's not the case since the last time the other him also said it out loud.

Anyway, it's all about trust now.

Holding out his hand again, he took Bastian's free hand and they walked back to the hotel in dead silence. When they eventually got into the room, the blonde pulled him headlong into a fierce kiss.

He kissed back while dragging the other into their bedroom. They stripped each other's clothes off, Lukas' hands roaming all over Bastian's body like to claim him all over as well as to remember every inch of him. Lukas' lips kissed, nibbled and sucked the Bavarian's pale skin, creating marks as well as his fingers which kept clenching the blonde's flesh creating red prints all over his body. He just wanted to make sure he wasn't dreaming, all of this wasn't simply his loony fantasy, to make sure that this was as real to Bastian as him, he wanted to remember every bit of it and he wanted Bastian to remember this, too.

But even though this is simply a dream, he would never want to wake up.

Bastian moaned into Lukas' mouth as the Pole dilly-dallyingly stroked his cock, before his other hand slipped to Bastian's hole to slowly finger-fuck him. The blonde bit Lukas' lower lip and screamed to warn him that he's about to come so the Pole stopped his manhandling and replaced fingers with his erection.

Then Bastian cried, he cried and cried silently and Lukas didn't know how to comfort him because tears were trickling down his cheeks noiselessly as well. Bastian was always a crybaby even in the other reality while Lukas had only cried in front of Bastian only once or twice as far as he could remember, he's a tough guy and when he let everything loose in front of others like this, it meant he'd already laid bare the very fragile side of him.

He kissed tears off Bastian's cheeks, but they kept coming quietly and wouldn't stop. Lukas cursed then kissed the blonde's lips with abandon, Bastian's lips were salty because of teardrops, his wet cheek rubbed against Lukas' damp one as the Pole whispered against his lips, "You know that if it works, tomorrow you'll wake up and still find me, right? It's not like Lukas Podolski is going anywhere." He kissed the corner of Bastian's mouth again.

"It's not the same," the blonde whispered, then pointed out, "and you're also crying, Luki, so you can't scold me,"

"Well, for me it's really 'not the same', I don't know when I'd be able to kiss you like this again, maybe never even." He felt a sharp pain in his chest saying that, he swallowed.

"But you promised that you'd follow your heart!" he sounded panicked though it's not even him whom Lukas' decision would affect.

"I'd do that, of course, I promise." He kissed the blonde's cheek consolingly again. "But I don't know whether it'd work, I don't know whether you'd love me back the way you love me here."

"I will," Bastian replied confidently. "If you can say for yourself here, I also can say for myself there: I will."

"Glad to hear that," Lukas replied and moved. Bastian gasped and clasped the Pole’s nape, so that his face was still and they could look each other in the eyes.

"I'll remember you like this, as another Lukas Podolski, not the fake one, nor the real one, just another one. I'll keep you here in my heart and always remember that I have loved you, now and still," he whispered, tears trickling down his cheek.

"I love you," Lukas blurted out, their eyes still locked. "Basti, I love you, in this world, in the other world, and beyond." Tears dropped from the corner of his eyes onto the Bavarian's cheek, Bastian smiled and used his thumb to brush Lukas' tears off the Pole's cheek.

"I love you, and will love you until other universes, too," Bastian whispered.

  
The night was dark and Lukas couldn't breathe, he wasn't sleepy either and they kept opening up their eyes to check whether the other had fallen asleep, which hadn't. This happened for many hours until dawn almost broke.

But when Lukas' mind was eventually dragged under restive sleep, Bastian in his arms, he dreamt the strangest dream,

He was with Louis in a white house with bay windows, colorful potted flowers lined up on the windowsill. They're playing cards on the floor, it's summer and sunlight that slanted in through the windows was warm. They heard people talking in the next room so they got up, he took Louis' hand and they walked out the door to the hallway.

The noise came from the next door which was opened slightly. Lukas pushed it open and the soft and warm wind with lemongrass smell gushed out of the room. The first thing that caught his eyes was the bellowing white curtain because a window was opened, then he saw a figure standing next to it: a figure with blond hair and white skin like he's scintillating under sunlight.

It was Bastian.

"Luki," the Bavarian looked up from something in his arms and he'd never seen Bastian this euphoric before, his smile was so wide and he's so beautiful that the Pole's heart skipped a beat. "Luki, look at him," he said and Lukas walked over with Louis, then he realized what was in the blonde's arms.

It's a baby.

A newborn baby in a bundle, he's opening his eyes and smiling at Bastian, tiny fists waving about, his skin was still red. "He's got your eyes, just like Louis," the blonde said. Lukas' breath hitched as he looked at the tiny thing, the baby got bright blue eyes and he's the most beautiful being Lukas had ever seen.

Lukas startled awake.

He felt sweats sprouting on his forehead, the room was lit softly from morning sunlight through chasm of curtains. He looked around, heart racing in his chest as he tried to remember where he was.

He definitely didn't fall asleep in this bed, in this room. He tried to recall what he did last night. His memory was blank for a time, then something suddenly snapped in his head.

Last night he was...

He looked around alarmedly, the room looked very unfamiliar, it had a king-size bed, a wardrobe, a table, a chair, three double casement windows with white curtains and of course he didn't fall asleep here last night - the part that he had really experienced, that is. He looked for his phone on the bedside table, it's there so he snatched it, the date displaying on the screen was January the 6th, the time was eight in the morning.

His heart almost broke his ribcage as he unlocked the phone and tapped open Safari on the screen.

He googled his name.

Under his name on Google Search, it's written that his spouse was Monika Podolski (m. 2011).

Lukas' heart skipped a very long beat.

He put the phone down in his lap, eyes staring at a curtained window. So this is it. It worked: the stone, the wishes, the myth was real, he's now back in his world, with Monika as his wife and Bastian as his friend.

What do I do now?

He didn't have plan for this, of course.

Then he realized that he could also use his phone to indicate his location, his heart beat fast as he opened Google Map and pushed current location button.

It interacted with the satellite for a while but the blue dot on Google Map eventually dashed to the middle of Milan, Italy.

Lukas' eyes went wide, what the fuck is he doing in Milan?!

That's when he heard something from downstairs: something like clanking. He froze.

Who's down there?

He narrowed his eyes then looked down at his pajamas, just to make sure, he's in a t-shirt and boxer briefs: his usual pajamas. So he slid out of bed and walked silently out of the room, along the hallway then down the stairs. There's someone in the kitchen, clanking noises could still be heard. Lukas' heart drummed in his chest as he stopped next to the kitchen door, hesitating whether he wanted to know the truth.

Though he had gut feeling - or actually, high hopes - what this was all about.

Lukas stepped into the doorway.

There's someone in t-shirt and sweatpants standing at the counter. He seemed to having been caught up in cutting vegetables but turning around once hearing the noise in the doorway. Lukas was stunned to the spot as Bastian smiled widely at him. "Good morning, Luki," he greeted.

Though he'd had the gut feeling, the visual confirmation still had full effect on him. Lukas stared at Bastian disbelievingly. When he still didn't take his eyes off him, the Bavarian agitated. "Why are you looking at me like you see a ghost, Luki?" He teased.

He's sure this was his reality, the Google Search had kind of confirmed it. But then Bastian was here, in the flesh, alone with him in...Milan? And Lukas couldn't believe this was actually happening.

Well, IS this actually happening?

What if this is a dream again? So he's having a dream inside a dream for real this time. It's very likely because right now everything had a dreamlike quality, the scene in front of him didn't seem real in anyway. Lukas pinched himself on the inside of his arm and it hurt. Bastian saw that and was even more baffled. "Luki, what's wrong?"

Lukas stepped up and Bastian stepped back instinctively, uncertain. The Pole walked over to the blonde, if this wasn't a dream, he would be able to feel Bastian's skin under his palms, smell the lemongrass shampoo from Bastian's hair and taste the sweet tingling sensation from Bastian's lips. Well, all of these still might not be able to tell apart dream from reality since in his latest dream less than ten minutes ago, he could smell the lemongrass, too.

Fuck that, he didn't care anymore.

Lukas clasped the Bavarian's forearms with both hands, Bastian startled. He could feel the warmth of Bastian's body, and at this proximity, he could also smell lemongrass from Bastian's blond hair.

The Pole leaned in to kiss Bastian on the lips resolutely.

Bastian stood stock-still, and Lukas' stomach dropped realizing that he'd made an outrageous mistake. What if Bastian just stayed over AS A FRIEND? It's not that it had never happened before, how could he immediately jump to the conclusion that right now they're anything more than that?

Lukas' mind was reeling hard for the next admissible move when suddenly the Bavarian kissed him back.

It's the Pole's turn to stand stock-still, eyes wide. He felt like he's about to fall off a cliff but then was rescued in the last split second by an angel, he also felt like there were fireworks exploding in his stomach right now, and even more like his heart was a grenade that imploded when the Bavarian put his hand on his nape, pulling him in for a deeper kiss. Lukas was dazed, he put both hands on Bastian cheeks to force feed his sensations into Bastian's mouth as well as to devour him in return. The blonde's lips were so sweetly intoxicating until they should be illegal poisonous drugs but Lukas was willing to die a thousand times if it meant he could taste them again and again. The kiss was desperate because Lukas thought he had already lost this forever and he forgot to breathe. He didn't know what the fuck was going on at all but as long as he had Bastian in his arms, he didn't actually care.

Finally, when they broke apart, Lukas panted against Bastian's lips, still dizzy by all the surreal sensations as well as the mystification of realities and dreams. "Basti, am I dreaming?" he whispered, pathetically hoping that the answer would be 'no'.

"No, you ain't." Bastian, though a bit bewildered by the question, took it as a jest and snickered. He carded fingers through Lukas' short hair fondly and whispered against his lips, smiling like he's the happiest man in the world, "Luki, this is real."


	21. Epilogue

"Dad, this way!"

Lukas was climbing the steep path of Monrealer Ritterschlag trekking route. The weather was very warm as the mid-summer sun shone above their heads. Louis was capering ahead, leading their way enthusiastically and was excited every time he saw new castle ruins. Bastian followed close behind him, then after the Bavarian, his chocolate-colored Labrador Retriever: Bruno.

They came here together: the four of them. Louis was old enough to trek the whole route, he's thirteen now.

Lukas followed them behind slowly, there's no need to hurry, they had all day to themselves and he wanted to appreciate every moment of it: warm weather, verdant hills, small creeks, castle ruins, and his family.

Their family.

Everything that had happened made him appreciate life more, every now and then Lukas would walk slowly and occasionally stop to look around, the world is a beauty and full of surprises, there is magic in them, you just have to look a bit more closely and believe in it.

He knew how blessed he is to have this life, the choices are yours and you're the one who decides whether to turn left or right, to choose the path for yourself. He's learnt that God doesn't give you chances, you create them yourself. Life is his and he would make every moment of it count, every minute worthwhile, wasting no more time. And everyone should know how blessed they're without having to travel to other universes to realize.

Be grateful for what you have, because life is a gift.

When he came back from the other universe six years ago, it appeared that the other Lukas had done all the hard works for him, again. During the five months that they had switched realities, the other him had pursued Bastian until eventually the blonde realized and admitted that he's also in love with Lukas.

Monika kind of knew what's going on, she might have seen it through even from the start so when Lukas told her his decision, she didn't seem really surprised by the truth.

Lukas talked to Louis about this and it took two more years before he officially divorced Monika. They didn't announce their relationship at first lest it'd affect their careers - he knew this world wasn't really ready for this kind of things despite how badly he wanted it to be differently. But after six years, both of them were about to retire and they didn't actually care about the media anymore. The world had grown up and people had been more understanding regarding the issue. When they eventually came out, he guessed people had known it already, even from the start.

They're all way smarter than him and Bastian, he reckoned.

And Louis understood, eventually, Lukas guessed that's all that mattered, he's a smart kid and wasn't brainwashed by public opinions, he had a mind of his own and though it pained him that his parents didn't love one another, he understood that we couldn't choose whom we love.

And Monika found the love of her life afterwards: Silas, the same guy Lukas met at the family Christmas in the other universe. He couldn't tell how elated he was that everything actually ended up happily. The day that Louis finally called Bastian 'tata Schweini,' was one of the happiest days of his life.

He wondered what Bastian in the other universe would be doing by now, and Louis, too. Would they have another kid together like he saw in his dream? Would Louis be playing with his little brother at the moment? What would they call him? Of course he'd let Bastian name the baby, it's his first chance for this after all...

Lukas pushed those thoughts away.

There's no point indulging in those fantasies, that life wasn't his and never would be. If he wants to have a life like that, he'd better work for it, starting from now. Maybe in a couple of years, scientists would find a way to conceive biological children of parents of the same sex, the world was having controversial arguments - mostly religious - about this right now since recently biologists announced that conceiving these children weren't far gone. Lukas hoped that it could actually happen in the not-so-far future, otherwise Bastian and he would be too old for it.

The rest of the memory from the other reality, he'd dearly kept them away in his heart.

They arrived at the end of the trail when the sun hung low in the sky. Louis didn't even look exhausted, he seemed so happy that Lukas' heart clenched as secretly hoping that the other him would take Louis here sometimes as well.

They had qualitative family time after that, they rented an apartment in the village of Monrealer so they could sleep in the forest for a couple of nights without rush. Though it doesn't matter to Lukas anyway because home is where his heart is, he had Bastian, Louis and Bruno with him right now so anywhere in the world could be home.

They had barbecue at the back garden then played games until midnight, being in late-thirties couldn't change them a bit particularly their dorkiness. When he went to bed that night, he entwined his limbs around Bastian and whispered in the blonde's - though actually grey hair had already occupied the best part of his head - ear, "goodnight, baby, see you when I wake up tomorrow."

Bastian had never known the truth of Lukas' adventure, the Pole had never told him nor Louis in this universe and he guessed the other Lukas had never said anything, too. The Bavarian snickered, "goodnight, Luki, see you tomorrow."

That night, Lukas dreamt again,  
  
He's back in that white room with bay windows, they're having a birthday party: colorful balloons and confetti everywhere. There were so many people in the room, both adults and kids. The room was dark save for the five lit candles on a big chuck of cake which Bastian was bringing into the room. Happy birthday song could be heard and Lukas realized he's also the one who's singing it. The Bavarian put the cake down on a small table where there's a boy with blond hair and blue eyes seating. The Pole's heart skipped a beat once he realized who that boy must be.

The happy birthday song ended with "happy birthday to Abel!" accompanied by applauses and cheers.

"Happy birthday, Abel," Lukas who actually stood next to the table heard Bastian say to the smiling boy, he had Bastian's smile and nose, but other features were mostly Lukas', he realized with a swelling heart. Then Bastian looked up at him, smiling, his olive-colored eyes said a thousand words: five of them were 'I love you' and 'thank you', and he looked very blissful.

His attention was distracted for a bit as Bruno came up from out of nowhere to lick Abel's face like he wanted to say 'happy birthday' to the boy as well. Everybody laughed good-humoredly while Abel scolded and tried to push him away. It's the thirteen-year-old Louis that caught Bruno's collar and dragged him away. The young Pole looked up, his blue eyes caught Lukas' and he could actually see happiness dancing in them.

Then Lukas woke up.

"Shhh!"

He's awaken because of voices in the room, he realized. He still didn't open his eyes but using only his ears. There's a commotion beside the bed and then he heard Bastian whisper, "Louis, take him outside, he's going to wake your dad up." Bastian must be talking about Bruno.

"It's late anyway, you guys should get up," Louis said and he heard Bastian groan lazily beside him. He tried to suppress a smile that threatened to break on his face but it looked like he failed because Louis said, "Dad's already awake, Schweini."

He heard Bastian shift in bed to check whether what Louis said was true. He tried to suppress the smile again, to no avail, it appears, because the Bavarian shifted until Lukas could feel warm breaths on his ear as Bastian whispered in it,

"Open your eyes, Luki. We know you're awake."

Lukas smiled widely this time, it's no point hiding his happiness anymore. Bastian asked, "Your smile is too wide for my liking, Luki. What are you so happy about? Sweet dreams?"

Well, that's a part of it, Lukas thought. He didn't know whether his dream a minute earlier was the power of the stone letting him see either the future or the actual present of the other universe as a gift, or it might be none of those, it could be simply his pure fantasy.

Either way, he's very happy for them in that reality.

But there mustn't be any man who's happier than him this minute, not even the other Lukas.

You asked what I'm so happy about? I'm happy because yesterday I woke up in your bed, today I wake up in your bed, tomorrow I will also wake up in your bed.

And I chose this myself, God gave me life and I chose to live it the way I want. It’s never too late to change path, I decided to turn left rather than right when I reached the next crossroad, the crossroad I created myself, I choose to wake up and find you in bed next to me tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, every morning for the rest of my life.

Forever more.

"Dad!" Louis jumped onto him on the bed, Bruno barked and Bastian chuckled. Lukas laughed and then he opened his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally!
> 
> Please leave kudos or comments if you like the story. I thank you for all the feedback you guys have given me throughout the year.
> 
> See you again. ;)


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